Extensively Print and Distribute the Circular Telegram on Punishing Wang Jingwei and Saving the Nation[1]

(March 15, 1940)

The Circular Telegram on Punishing Wang Jingwei and Saving the Nation[2] of the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army was issued on the Shari [15th].[3] Upon receiving it, all localities should immediately print more copies and distribute them widely. One copy should be sent to every office, school, army unit, newspaper, mass organization, and public figure; especially, many copies should be sent among friendly troops, and multiple copies must be sent to all army, division, brigade, and regiment commanders. All public periodicals must publish it without fail.

[1] This is a telegram drafted by Mao Zedong for the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China to be sent to various localities.

[2] Wang refers to Wang Jingwei. Wang left Chongqing in December 1938 and issued the "Yan (29th) Telegram," openly surrendering to Japanese imperialism. At the end of 1939, he signed the traitorous secret treaty "Outline for Adjusting the New Relations between Japan and China" with the Japanese aggressors. In March 1940, he established the puppet Wang Jingwei regime in Nanjing. On March 15, 1940, Commander-in-Chief Zhu De and Deputy Commander-in-Chief Peng Dehuai of our Eighth Route Army, and Commander Ye Ting and Deputy Commander Xiang Ying of the New Fourth Army, leading all their officers and soldiers, issued the Circular Telegram on Punishing Wang Jingwei and Saving the Nation. The telegram stated: The traitor Wang has come on stage, and the whole nation is shocked and enraged. De and others, leading our troops deep behind enemy lines, have fought for three years to defend the motherland. We deeply understand that the enemy and puppet conspiracy lies in splitting our internal unity, in order to overthrow our nation, annihilate our race, and dismember our people. Recently, wherever the enemy and puppets have gone, they have dared to raise high the puppet Blue Sky and White Sun Flag, establish puppet armies and puppet parties everywhere, and call for peace and anti-communism. Now, so-called peace means surrender, and anti-communism means destroying China; this is already abundantly clear. Yet there are still many utterly heartless people who echo them. With the expansion of the European war, international conspiratorial elements collude with the enemy and puppets, attempting to establish a so-called anti-communist front in the East. The crisis in the War of Resistance hangs by a thread. At such a time, a small number of people within the country who are blind to the greater good either instigate surrender or carry out anti-communism, using anti-communism as a preparatory step for surrender. For the extreme of anti-communism inevitably leads to surrender, and before surrender, they must especially advocate anti-communism. Wang Jingwei's past mistakes are clear proof of this. Therefore, speaking of today, the crisis in the War of Resistance truly lies not in the rampant aggression of the enemy and puppets, but in the existence of surrender and anti-communist elements within our own resistance front. Recently, the enemy has set up radio broadcasts near the Zhongtiao Mountain Range, advocating that the Kuomintang and the Communist Party are about to split and that China is about to descend into civil war. Alas! What kind of talk is this!! What benefits the enemy harms us; what grieves our own people gladdens our foes. De and others, fighting across the battlefields, do not hesitate to sacrifice our lives, only seeking the continued unity of the whole nation, not to fall into the enemy's treacherous schemes, to eliminate friction, oppose civil war, unite the hearts of 450 million people into one heart, persist in the War of Resistance, and strive for final victory. With the vastness of our Chinese territory and the multitude of our population, taking advantage of the enemy's exhaustion and meeting the moment when the European war is raging, if we can strengthen unity and not destroy our own Great Wall, persist with ever-greater efforts and not lose our own courage, then the War of Resistance cannot but be victorious, and national construction cannot but succeed. De and others, though unworthy, vow to lead the entire army to shed the last drop of blood for the motherland, expel the enemy and puppets, and reclaim our rivers and mountains. Though we may face boiling water and tread on fire, we dare not refuse. We earnestly hope that advanced figures from all circles and compatriots nationwide will pool their wisdom and efforts to jointly save the nation from peril. In sending this telegram, we are overwhelmed with anxiety and earnest supplication!

[3] Shari refers to the 15th day. In the documentary and telegraphic conventions of the time, the rhyme categories of the commonly used poetry rhymes were used to substitute for dates. The character "Shan" (删), belonging to the 15th rhyme category in the poetry rhymes, was used to represent the 15th day, hence called Shari.