(July 5, 1938)

For the perusal of Mr. Wang Jingwei, speaker of the Wuhan People's Political
Council, Mr. Zhang Boling, deputy speaker, and all the councilors:

On the occasion of the first anniversary of the anti-Japanese war, at a time when
the whole country from top to bottom is united in absolute sincerity, fighting ceaselessly and unremittingly, and swearing to expel the ferocious enemy, but the enemy is still stepping up its attack endlessly, the fact that the People's Political
Council is holding its meeting in Wuhan at this time will create a precedent for a
constitutional government and set up an example of soliciting the will of the people
at the very initial stage. This causes all our compatriots profound satisfaction.
Although he has been chosen as a member of the council, Zedong is not able to
come and personally listen to everyone's eloquent speeches and profound comments, because he has been caught up with so many trivial tasks. But I have already asked the other comrades to express fully my humble ideas that might be
helpful regarding big issues such as the anti-Japanese war and building the country in their proposals, thus taking such an opportunity to make my small contribution. The [Japanese] bandits are so aggressive, and have brought such a tremendous
calamity to us, that the Divine Land¹ seems to be falling apart like a sinking continent, but so long as the will of the people can be manifested, there is still a hope
to reverse the great disaster. There are many ways to reverse it, but, according to
my opinion, the following three ways are the most fundamental ones: first, persist
in the anti-Japanese war; second, persist in the united front; and third, persist in a
protracted war. If we make the right move and march forward forcefully, if we do
not lose our courage or relax our will, there is absolutely no doubt that victory will
belong to us. At the time of the opening day of your meeting, I would like to

This telegram was first published in Jiefang, no. 46, July 23, 1938. Our source is Mao
Zedong ji, Vol. 6, p. 161, which reproduces that version. In Mao Zedong ji, the document is
dated July 6, but according to Nianpu, Vol. 2, p. 80, the telegram was sent on July 5, to arrive
on the 6th.
1. Here the Chinese is Shenzhou, a poetic name for China.