Speech to the Representatives of the
Yan’an Masses
(February 7, 1944)
(Liberation Daily) On the afternoon of the seventh, the People’s Yangge Dance Troupe1 and mass
organizations of the city of Yan’an, in incomparable happiness, presented Chairman Mao with a flag. As
the Yangge Dance Troupe advanced toward Yangjialing, all people living nearby rushed over to join in,
expressing the people’s utmost support for Chairman Mao. [Passage omitted.] Chairman Mao made a
speech to the audience amid thunderous applause. He said:
Today the People’s Yangge Dance Troupe, the municipal government, business
associations, and mass organizations in this city have come to Yangjialing, where
the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee is located, to present a flag.
Your intentions are very good. I speak for the Central Committee of the Chinese
Communist Party in welcoming you. Just now, you presented a flag and spoke
many good words. Your intentions are very good. We Communists will work
even harder, and we will do our work even better than in the past in order to
respond to you.
Chairman Mao said:
Right now, the whole world and all of China are coming together to fight the
Fascists. The Party, the government, the military, and the people in our border
regions are already united as one. This year we should be even more united and
we must work to increase production, consolidate the rear echelon, and defeat the
Japanese imperialists. The border regions have already made progress, and we
must make even more progress this year. Communists want to become one with
the people of the border regions and to listen to the opinions of the people, which
will allow us to work even better.

After Chairman Mao’s speech, the Yangge Dance Troupe performed more than ten kinds of yangge
stories, and their performance was brilliant. The General Office of the Central Committee served dinner,
and it was dark before they dispersed.
Notes
Our source for this document is Mao Zedong ji. Bujuan, Vol. 7, p. 137, where it is reproduced from the
February 12, 1944, issue of Jiefang ribao.
1. The yangge is a form of traditional folk dance and stilt-walking in northern Shaanxi that was adapted
by the Chinese Communist Party and quickly developed into a form of drama, incorporating both traditional
dance and aspects of modern spoken drama.