(March 12, 1938)

Today is the thirteenth anniversary of Mr. Sun Yatsen's death, and we are holding
this solemn rally in his memory. At the same time, the War of Resistance against
Japan has been fought for eight months, and many heroic commanders and soldiers have laid down their lives, so we are holding this memorial meeting to mourn
for them. All this is by no means casual or accidental; there are inevitable causes in
the historical development of our nation.

Where does Mr. Sun's greatness lie? It lies in his program of the Three People's
Principles, in his policy of a united front, and in his spirit of hard struggle. When I
met Mr. Sun in Guangdong, the First National Congress of the Guomindang was
in session, and the new program of the Three People's Principles, authored by Mr.
Sun, had already been passed by the congress. That was the famous "Manifesto of
the First National Congress of the Chinese Guomindang." At that time, moreover,
the policy of a united front based on the cooperation between the Guomindang
and the Communist Party was beginning to be carried out. This united front included an internal alliance with the Communist Party, and with the workers and
peasants, and an external alliance with those nations that treated us as equals to
wage a common struggle. Thus the famed "Three Cardinal Policies" were established at this time. Mr. Sun's program of the Three People's Principles and his
policy of a united front constituted, indeed, the greatest contribution to the Chinese nation by this great revolutionary in a semicolonial country. Apart from this,
the greatness of Mr. Sun also lies in his revolutionary resolve and spirit of hard
struggle and uncompromising determination. Without this resolve or spirit, his
doctrine and policy could not have been put into effect. As stated in the first sentence of the late Director General's political testament, which we have just read, "I
have devoted myself to the national revolution for forty years." He experienced

countless difficulties and setbacks during those four decades, but Mr. Sun struggled
even harder after each setback and never gave up. When many of his followers
became discouraged, lost their resolve, or even surrendered and became traitors in
the face of difficulties and temptations, Mr. Sun always held firm. He remained
true to his ideas. Throughout his lifetime, Mr. Sun upheld his Three People's Principles, developed them, and never abandoned them. Mr. Sun never gave up his
ideas in times of difficulties. From beginning to end, he consistently upheld and
developed the Three People's Principles. The manifesto of the First National Congress demonstrated the development of the Three People's Principles. As for the
united front, it was the same. Mr. Sun not only upheld the united front, but developed it from an alliance of various revolutionary groups and secret societies with
the goal of overthrowing the Qing dynasty to the adoption of the policy of uniting
with Soviet Russia, with the Communist Party, and with the workers and peasants
in order to overthrow imperialism and feudalism. These accomplishments, together
with his fearless, uncompromising, and persistent revolutionary resolve or practical revolutionary spirit, reveal Mr. Sun as a great revolutionary model. Today, we
have another united front. Compared with the previous one, this united front is
even broader. The enemy this united front must deal with is also more serious than
the last one. The program that this united front should carry out remains, at the
moment, the same as that declared by the manifesto of the First National Congress. But its form and content have developed in some respects and will certainly
develop further in the future. The goal of realizing the Three People's Principles,
expanding the united front, and defeating our enemy, Japanese imperialism, will
be reached only by upholding the uncompromising revolutionary spirit of hard
struggle, determination, and no wavering or compromise in our revolutionary practice. Therefore, in paying our tribute to Mr. Sun, we must, if we are not to follow
the old customs, pay attention to the following three points. First, struggle for the
thoroughgoing realization of the Three People's Principles; second, struggle for
the consolidation and expansion of the Anti-Japanese National United Front; and
third, uphold the revolutionary spirit of hard struggle, determination, and persistence. I think that the above three points are the most central, most essential, and
greatest legacy Mr. Sun has left us. Every member of the Guomindang, every
member of the Communist Party, and all patriotic fellow countrymen should accept this legacy and develop it. The judgment as to whether, in the final analysis, a
person is a loyal follower of Mr. Sun depends on his attitude toward these three
precious legacies.

Now let us speak about the significance of the commanders and soldiers who
have died resisting the enemy. Since the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, the unprecedented great war in the East has been going on for eight months. The enemy has
exhausted all his national resources to wage the war; his goal is the destruction of
China, and his strategy is fighting a quick battle to force a quick decision. What
about us? We have also mobilized all our resources to resist; our goal is to defend
our motherland, and our strategy is to wage a protracted struggle. In the past eight

This text was first published in Xin Zhonghua bao, March 15, 1938. Our source is Mao
Zedong wenji, Vol. 2, pp. 111-15.

months, our army and air force have fought heroically. Great unity has been achieved
in our whole country, and several million troops and countless people have joined
in the fighting. Hundreds of thousands of them have gloriously and heroically laid
down their lives in executing their sacred tasks. Among these, many were members of the Guomindang, many were Communists, and many were members of
other parties or belonged to no party. We pay our heartfelt tribute to the dead and
will keep them forever in our memory. All of them without exception-from generals like Hao Menglin, Dong Lingge, Zhao Dengyu, Rao Guohua, Liu Jiaqi, Jiang
Yuzhen, Chen Jingxiu, Li Guidan, Huang Meixing, Yao Zixiang, and Pan Zhankui
to every soldier-have set a great and noble example for the people of the whole
country. The Chinese nation is assuredly not a flock of sheep. It is a great nation
rich in national dignity and sense of human justice. For the sake of national dignity
and human justice, and for the Chinese people to continue to live in their own
land, it will never allow Japanese fascists to reach their criminal and outrageous
goal without paying a heavy price. Our methods are war and sacrifice. We will
resist war with war; we will pit revolutionary justice against barbarous wars of
aggression. This spirit has already been manifested in our nation's history of several thousand years; now it is being magnificently demonstrated once again. General Hao Menglin and hundreds of thousands of soldiers have died for this spirit.
We assume that the Japanese fascists will continue to advance; they still want to
attack our Xi'an, Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Nanchang, Fuzhou, Changsha, and
Guangzhou. They want to swallow up and destroy China. But I want to tell these
mad enemies, "You will never reach your goal. Do not think that you have reached
your goal once you occupy our land. You have not reached your goal and never
will. History will judge that the victory of you Japanese fascists is only temporary
and will never be permanent. There are sufficient causes to prove that the final
victory belongs only to us. Moreover, when the war is concluded, you will occupy
only part of our land. It is impossible for you to occupy the entire country. Even
when you win a quick victory in a city, you will also get a prolonged war in a
village. For example, you have already taken several major roads and several cities in Shanxi, but the countryside several times the size of the land you have occupied will always belong to the Republic of China. We will tell this truth to the
people of the whole country: Japan can impose only partial occupation in practically every province. The Japanese armed forces are not sufficient to be spread
everywhere; their barbarous policy has also aroused the wrath of every Chinese.
China has a huge army and many people. China also carries out a good united
front policy. This determines the prolonged nature of the war and to whom the
final victory belongs. In terms of the situation in the future, even if, as a result of
bloody fighting, Japan occupies most of China's territory and there is only a small
part of China that is intact and remains as the central base for continuing the war
and struggling for the final victory, Japan will really occupy only the large cities,
the major roads, and some flat areas in most of China. Provided only that we can
organize the people in most of the countryside in every province to rise up in arms

together with us to fight the Japanese and establish many anti-Japanese base areas,
such as the Wutai mountains base area, which has already been established, we
will surround the Japanese Army. This war of ours on exterior lines supports the
war on interior lines. Let us, moreover, strive in every way to make great progress
in various critical tasks in our Party, government, military, and civil affairs throughout the country. The day will come when we can support each other, attack both
from without and within, and launch a great counteroffensive. At that time, we
will assuredly be aided by support from the world revolution and the people's
revolution inside Japan. Who can say that the final victory will not belong to China?
Who can say that the warm blood of General Hao Menglin and others was shed in
vain? Who can say that it is not a certainty that the Japanese bandits will be driven
out of China? Who can say that the three great ideals of Mr. Sun Yatsen-national
liberation, democratic freedom, and people's livelihood and happiness-will not
be realized in China? We want the people of all China to have this clear understanding and firm belief, and understand the best overall strategy for protracted
warfare. Under the leadership of the central government and of Chairman Chiang
[Kaishek], let us unite as one during this campaign, and we will certainly be able
to get rid of the shackles of being, or the threat of becoming, slaves without a
country.

At this rally, we want to salute every officer and soldier fighting at the front
because they are all waging a heroic struggle to win final victory. We want to
salute all the families of the soldiers who are fighting the Japanese, especially the
families of the martyrs, because their families have produced such soldiers who
have fought for their country without fear of laying down their lives. We also want
to salute every worker, and the leaders at every level, who are toiling selflessly in
the rear for the war effort, because their work directly or indirectly guides or contributes to the War of Resistance.¹ At this rally, let us also offer a special salute to
our national leader, and the commander-in-chief of the War of Liberation, Chairman Chiang, because he is leading the country with determination and perseverance, and because he has initiated and commanded the great War of Resistance
against Japan.

Compatriots at the rally, and of the whole country, let us unite forever! Down
with Japanese imperialism! Long live the liberation of the Chinese nation!

1. The text as reproduced in Mao Zedong wenji ends here. The remaining sentences are
taken from the version in Mao Zedong ji, Vol. 5, pp. 329-33.