Declaration of the Association of All Circles in
Yan'an for the Promotion of Constitutional
Government
(February 20, 1940)

To the National Government, the People's Political Council, the Chinese
Guomindang, all parties and factions, armies, organizations of the popular masses
that are fighting Japan, and all newspaper offices for their inspection:

The Yan'an Association of All Circles for the Promotion of Constitutional Government held its inaugural meeting on February 20. Here we solemnly proclaim
the views of this association regarding constitutional government. We respectfully request that the government adopt them and put them into practice. We hope,
moreover, that people in all walks of life will join us in promoting them, so that a
truly democratic government can be realized, as the future of the War of Resistance hinges on it.
1. The significance of putting into effect constitutional government at present
lies in following the will of the people, and thoroughly defeating Japanese imperialism. It has been twenty-nine years now since the founding of the Republic of
China, but, though it is called a republic, in reality it is a dictatorship. We do not
have to discuss the generation of Yuan [Shikai], Feng [Guozhang],¹ Duan [Qirui],
and Cao [Rulin].² Since the Guomindang has been in power, because it has been
following the same old track it has also failed to make any improvements. The
reason lies in the fact that it has indulged in a lot of empty talk about political
tutelage, but failed to take as its only guide calling upon the will of the people and
resisting imperialism. The statement of the First National Congress of the
Guomindang in 1924 contains the following passage: "The so-called democratic
system, as it exists today in various countries, frequently extends only to the bourgeoisie and has therefore been turned into a tool for the oppression of the common

This declaration was first published in Xin Zhonghua bao, February 28, 1940. We have
translated it from Mao Zedong ji, Vol. 7, pp. 245-49, which reproduces that text.
whole nation rose up in indignation and fought to save the country. The problem
of paramount importance at the moment is how to make full use of the popular will
and utterly defeat Japanese imperialism. There are those who argue, on the contrary, that the establishment of constitutional democracy has nothing to do with
unleashing the popular will and driving out the Japanese invaders. They do not see
constitutional government as an instrument for saving the nation from extinction
and ensuring its survival, but merely as a clever expedient for deceiving public
opinion. Consequently, the people's campaign for constitutional government is
banned, the people's freedom of speech, assembly, and association is curtailed,
and they declare that political tutelage, which all our compatriots believe should
be abolished, will continue. They deem it unnecessary that the representatives to
the National Assembly who were elected before the start of the War of Resistance
should be reelected, and they consider that the Organic Law of the National Assembly, with which people are dissatisfied, still applies.⁴ We, the members of this
association, declare our firm opposition to all the points listed above, which run
counter to the will of the people and do not answer the needs of the War of Resistance. The members of this association venture to say that if that is how constitutional government is to be carried out, no problem, whether domestic or foreign,
will ever be solved. Without a thorough change in accordance with the will of the

people, it will be absolutely impossible to win the support of the people or to
benefit the War of Resistance. This is the first thing this association wishes to
proclaim to our compatriots.
2. The Electoral Law of the National Assembly must be thoroughly revised,
and representatives reelected. Although some of the representatives elected before
the War of Resistance are fair-minded people, the so-called election was by and
large fraudulent. This is because Chu Minyi, today a Chinese traitor, was the one
who directed the election, while the party headquarters secretly shielded his actions.⁵ There were all sorts of secret dealings, which have incurred ridicule from
people both at home and abroad. Among the representatives, there are many Chinese traitors, enemy spies, corrupt officials, and local bullies and bad gentry. The
constitution produced by an assembly of such delegates must necessarily be some
worthless bureaucratic document, and the application of a constitution under such
an assembly will definitely be the same old one-party dictatorship with a different
label. If there is something you want to do, just go ahead and do it. Why bother to
disguise it as constitutional government? The members of this Association declare
their resolute opposition to this practice. At the same time, they would like to
propose to the government that the Electoral Law of the National Assembly be
thoroughly revised and the representatives reelected. That has to be done, as it is
called for by the necessity to persevere in unity and in the War of Resistance.
Otherwise it would be like heading north when you actually want to go south, thus
incurring ridicule from people who truly know about the matter and in no way
bringing good fortune to the nation or to the state. That is the second thing that this
Association wishes to proclaim to the people of the nation.
3. The Organic Law of the National Assembly must be thoroughly revised. The
National Assembly should be the organ of supreme power. In the present Organic
Law, however, the office of the National Assembly is specified as nothing beyond
the making of the constitution and determining the date of its entry into force, and
its mission terminates at the end of the session. It was designed in this way to
avoid the actual establishment of constitutional government and to prevent the
National Assembly from becoming an organ of power responsible for the salvation and development of the nation. The evil influence behind it was the obsession
of one-party dictatorship. The comrades of this Association absolutely cannot accept the Organic Law of the National Assembly, which does not fit with the needs
of the War of Resistance. We demand that it be thoroughly revised and that the

National Assembly be designated as the supreme organ of state power. First, apart
from making the constitution and determining the date of its entry into force, the
National Assembly should be designated as the organ for carrying out the constitution. Second, the National Assembly should be entrusted with the authority to
decide on the overall orientation of domestic policy and foreign affairs. Third, the
National Assembly should have the right to select, supervise, and dismiss the members of the government. Fourth, the National Assembly should have the authority
to make laws for the state. Fifth, the National Assembly should have a standing
organ to perform tasks when the Assembly is not in session. Only thus can the
needs that have arisen in the present critical situation be met, and the National
Assembly avoid turning into something which merely serves to maintain appearances. If it is argued that the organ that has the right to enforce the constitution
should be determined by the constitution, so the Organic Law should not entrust
the National Assembly in advance with the right to enforce the constitution, that is
an argument that deceives oneself as well as others. It was Mr. Sun Yatsen who
specified that the National Assembly was the supreme organ of state power, when
he said, “After the promulgation of the Constitution, the Center’s right to rule is to
be exercised by the National Assembly. The National Assembly is authorized to
select and dismiss the government officials and to formulate and revise the state
laws.” Aside from the National Assembly, is there a second organ which deserves
to be the executive body of the constitution? Sincerity is indispensable if anything
is to be accomplished. To practice democracy without sincerity is as good as not
talking about it at all. Sincerity in opening up the government, in practicing democracy, and in rousing people to manage their own business of safeguarding
themselves as well as the country, without taking these as temporary expedients, is
an initial prerequisite for summoning the National Assembly. That is the third
thing this Association wishes to proclaim to the people of the nation.
4. An all-embracing and thoroughgoing campaign for constitutional government should be unfolded throughout the country. People are entitled to the freedom
to discuss constitutional government and to participate in the election of the representatives to the National Assembly. All parties and factions that are fighting Japan
are entitled to the right of existence and the freedom to participate in the election of
representatives to the National Assembly. Constitutional government without participation by the popular masses, popular masses without the freedom of speech,
assembly, and association, anti-Japanese parties and factions without the right to
legal existence and legal activity denote constitutional government in empty words
and devoid of any actual effect. As long as this practice remains unchanged, the
constitution, however comprehensive and well-phrased its articles, will be nothing
but a bunch of meaningless printed characters. No matter how certain people may
boast that they promoted constitutional government a long time ago, this is nothing
but a camouflage for the monopoly of political power by a single party or faction.
On the other hand, if they are truly sincere in changing the old course of doing
things and have the determination to turn over a new leaf together with the people,


they will necessarily start by allowing the people as well as all anti-Japanese parties, factions, and mass organizations the freedom to discuss constitutional government and to elect their representatives to the National Assembly. That is the fourth
thing that this association wishes to proclaim to our compatriots.

The four issues discussed above are proposals of this Association as well as the
common will of people all over the country. The members of the Association are
convinced that carrying out democracy and constitutional government is the general trend of events both at home and abroad and will therefore achieve its ends
despite obstacles of all kinds. At a time when the enemy of our nation is driving
deep into the country, the democratization of the state is truly the fundamental
guarantee for the salvation and preservation of the nation. The combined efforts of
the Guomindang and the Communist Party, as well as all the other anti-Japanese
parties, factions, and people will no doubt gradually lead to the prospect of democracy and constitutional government. That is, once again, something of which
the members of this Association are profoundly convinced, and something that
they wish to state to the people of the entire country. At the moment when this
association is established, we have put forward with utmost sincerity our propositions and are seeking for advice from the people of this world. People with aspirations, arise!

February 20 of the 29th year of the Chinese Republic

The Yan'an Association of All Circles for the Promotion of
Constitutional Government

Chairman of the
Board of Directors Wu Yuzhang

Directors
Mao Zedong, Chen Shaoyu, Zhang
Wentian, Wang Jiaxiang, Kang Sheng,
Chen Yun, Deng Fa, Lin Boqu, Li
Fuchun, Gao Gang, Gao Zili, Luo Mai,
Xiao Jingguang, Tan Zheng, Zhang
Bangying, Xie Juezai, Ke Qingshi, Teng
Daiyuan, Zhang Hao, Meng Qingshu,
Feng Wenbin, Zhang Qinqiu, Ding Ling,
Cao Yi'ou, Ai Siqi, Zhou Yang, Wang
Xuewen, Xu Guangda, Wu Liangping,
Chen Boda, Nan Hanchen, Li Chuli,
Yang Song, He Sijing, Zhou Yimin,
Chen Kangbai, Fu Lianzhang, Gao
Langting, Cao Juru, Rao Zhengxi, Wang
Lin, Ye Jizhuang, Lei Jingtian, Bai
Zhengbang, Gao Shuxian

--- Notes

1. Feng Guozhang (1858-1919) became vice-president and then acting president in
1916-18 after the death of Yuan Shikai.

2. Cao Rulin (1876-1966), a strongly pro-Japanese politician, was one of the principal
targets of the students during the May 4th demonstrations.
people. The 'people's rights'³ advocated by the Guomindang is enjoyed also by
the common people; it is not something privately possessed by a minority." What
admirable words! If this manifesto had been put into effect, the tragedy of the civil
war could have been avoided, and the foreign invasion could have found no entry.
Unfortunately, famous dicta such as this have actually been laid aside and neglected, while the ruthless application of one-party dictatorship has been described
by the high-sounding term of political tutelage. The fact is that, throughout China,
from the south to the north, from great cities to the remote hinterland, not a single
person has been enlightened nor a single wrong addressed in the course of all this
tutelage. On the contrary, the only result of these many years of political tutelage
has been merely that we see corrupt officials running amuck, the local bullies and
bad gentry committing endless iniquities, the moral standards of the state and the
vitality of the nation utterly destroyed, and opportunities created for disaster to
enter from abroad. It was not until the beginning of the War of Resistance that the

3. Sun Yatsen's term for democracy, corresponding to the second of the Three People's
Principles.

4. The reference is presumably to the Organic Law of the National Assembly, which had
been promulgated on May 4, 1936, but was not put into effect because of the outbreak of
the Sino-Japanese War. Mao's point about the reelection of representatives to the National
Assembly is somewhat more obscure, since there had been no body with this title in China
for more than twenty years. Mao may have been thinking of the Legislative Yuan, which
had drafted several proposals for constitutional government between 1934 and 1936, and
some of whose members (appointed rather than elected) might have been included in the
new assembly. In fact, no National Assembly was elected until 1948.


⁵. Chu Minyi (1884–1946), who had long been associated with Wang Jingwei, became
secretary general of the Executive Yuan in Nanjing when Wang became premier in 1932
and retained the post until 1935, when Wang was wounded in an assassination attempt and
resigned. When Wang Jingwei broke with Chiang Kaishek and sought peace with Japan,
Chu became secretary general of Wang’s “Reformed Guomindang.” From 1940 to 1944 he
served as foreign minister of Wang’s collaborationist régime, and in 1946 he was executed
in Nanjing as a traitor.