Elegiac Couplet for Mr. Xu Qian[1]

(September 1940)

On survival or ruin hangs the fate, the War of Resistance relies on protracted effort, and now is truly a new stage;

In death and life we share the same lament, unity must advance, how can we copy the old essay again.

[1] On September 26, 1940, Xu Qian, a veteran Kuomintang member who advocated for the War of Resistance and cooperation, passed away in Hong Kong due to illness. Mao Zedong sent this elegiac couplet. Xu Qian (1871–1940), a native of Shexian, Anhui, was a Jinshi in the late Qing Dynasty and a veteran Kuomintang member. In his early years, he followed Sun Yat-sen in the revolution and advocated for Kuomintang-Communist cooperation. During the War of Resistance, he traveled to Southeast Asia to promote resistance against Japan.