Letter to Song Qingling
(January 19, 1949)
Madame [Song] Qingling:
With the successful situation of the Chinese Revolution bringing the reactionaries to the brink of their demise, the situation in Shanghai is on our minds. The
new Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference will be held in northern
China. The Chinese People’s Revolution has been through all kinds of hardships
and difficulties, and the dying wish of Mr. [Sun] Yatsen can now be realized. We
hope that Madame can prepare to come north to participate in this great undertaking in the history of the people and to offer some guidance on how to go about
building a new China. As to how you should travel north from Shanghai, we
have asked [Liao] Mengxing 1 to discuss this overall matter with [Pan] Hannian
and [Jin] Zhonghua; 2 safety must be the number one consideration. We send our
regards, and eagerly await your reply.
Mao Zedong
Zhou Enlai
Our source for this letter is Mao Zedong wenji, Vol. 5, p. 237, where it is reproduced
from the original document preserved in the Central Archives.
1.  Liao Mengxing (1904–1988, native of Guangdong) was Song Qingling’s secretary.
2.  The Chinese Communist Party had sent Pan Hannian to Shanghai and Hong Kong
to take charge of launching the united front. Jin Zhonghua (1907–1986, native of Zhejiang)
worked for the united front in Shanghai.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719436-228