Original title: Mao Zedong's Secret Letter to Du Bincheng
Mr. Binchen, your staff officer:
Comrade Wang Feng knew that Mr. Wang was deeply moved that he did not forget about the revolution. To this day, all anti Chiang factions should not be fooled by the Japanese warlords, but should unite with the Red Army to jointly organize the anti Japanese coalition and the national defense government... For today's sake, we should take concerted action with our side to form a joint front. We are willing to take the initial condition of not attacking each other, Discuss with Mr. Hucheng all the fundamental plans for saving the nation from subjugation. The Japanese military force has been launched. After the control of Pingjin, it will soon reach Shanshan... As a leader in the northwest, Mr. Shen Ke and others in the Northeast Army (this time, our army pursued Dong Yingbin and cut down a regiment of Commander Shen, which was not desirable) should all join hands with him. Deng Junbaoshan in Gansu is also a man who has no way out. Our army is also willing to have relations with him. I heard that Mr. Deng Junbaoshan has an old relationship with him, so I can introduce him and pray for him. We enclose a copy of our declaration of December 1. This is the policy determined by the Central Committee of our Party, and we hope that it will be announced to all parties. When times are dangerous and disasters are urgent, we should speak freely. I think true patriots don't think it is abrupt.
This cloth is specially made. Weatherability
Gongsui
Mao Zedong started
December 5, 1935
This is a confidential letter written by Mao Zedong to Du Bincheng, the General Counsellor of the 17th Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army in Xi'an on December 5, 1935. Now in the Memorial Hall of Wang Feng's Former Residence in Lantian County, Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province, there is a replica provided by the Central Archives, and the original is still kept in the Central Archives. The letter begins by calling Binchen Bincheng. The secret letter was personally handed over to Du Bincheng by Comrade Wang Feng after hardships and dangers, and played a positive role in the peaceful settlement of the "Xi'an Incident" and the formation of the Northwest Anti Japanese National United Front.
Du Bincheng (1888-1947), formerly known as Pigong, with the name of Bincheng, was a native of Shaanxi Mizhi, an early leader, educator and political activist of the China Democratic Alliance. Du Bincheng persisted in the revolution all his life, was arrested by the Kuomintang on March 20, 1947, and died in Xi'an on October 7, 1947.
After Du Bincheng died for his country, Mao Zedong wrote his own elegy: "To die for the people is to live even though death."
In November 1930, Yang Hucheng took office as the chairman of Shaanxi Provincial Government, and invited Du Bincheng to return to Shaanxi to participate in politics. After arriving in Xi'an, Du Bincheng was appointed as a senior councillor in Tongguan camp of the provincial government and the military commission of the national government, and later Du Bincheng was appointed as the deputy director of Qingxiang Bureau of Shaanxi Province. During his tenure, he recommended Li Yizhi, a water conservancy expert, as the director of the construction department to build water conservancy projects such as Jinghui Canal and Luohui Canal; He used his legal status to support the revolutionary activities of the Communists and tried to rescue the Communists Liu Zhidan, Liu Lantao and Zhang Desheng who were arrested by the Kuomintang; He has subsidized the Red Army Shaanxi Gansu Guerrilla with guns, bullets, military uniforms and other materials.
After the September 18th Incident in 1931, Japan forcibly occupied the three northeastern provinces of China. Chiang Kai shek adhered to the reactionary policy of "Resisting foreign aggression must first secure domestic security", and strictly ordered the Central Army to intensify its suppression of the Communist Party, and to eliminate the miscellaneous armies in the suppression of the Communist Party. Du Bincheng pointed out: "A Yang Hucheng and a 17th Route Army can't defeat Chiang Kai shek and will be eaten sooner or later. Only the northwest alliance, and then the promotion of the north-south alliance, can deal with Chiang Kai shek." His idea of the northwest alliance is to return to the Han Dynasty, integrate Shaanxi and Gansu, get through to Xinjiang, forge a good relationship with the Soviet Union, and resist Japan and save the country. Yang Hucheng deeply agreed with Du Bincheng's suggestion, and immediately sent Du Bincheng to visit all parts of Gansu as a senior advisor in Tongguan.
After entering Gansu, Du Bincheng first talked extensively with the local warlords who were independent, and persuaded Chen Zhizhang, Lu Dachang and other local warlords to accept the reorganization; Later, they marched into Lanzhou with Sun Weiru of the 17th Division. The Nanjing government appointed Sun Weiru as Gansu's ambassador and Du Bincheng as the secretary general of the ambassador's office to take charge of government affairs. During this period, Du Bincheng also funded the Jingyuan mutiny led by Communist Party members Xie Zichang and Du Runzi from weapons and materials. In April 1932, Chiang Kai shek forced Sun Weiru's troops to withdraw from Lanzhou, which failed to realize the Northwest Alliance proposed by Du Bincheng.
After Chiang Kai shek took control of Gansu, Sun Weiru's troops were sent to the front line of the Communist suppression in Hanzhong in an attempt to defeat both the Red Army and Yang Hucheng's troops. Du Bincheng saw through Chiang Kai shek's plot and put forward the idea of anti Chiang Kai shek and anti Japanese alliance with the Communist Party, which was approved by Yang Hucheng and Sun Weiru. Then, Du Bincheng reached an agreement with the Fourth Red Front Army and the 17th Route Army on mutual non aggression and common anti Chiang through various efforts. In the past two years, there has been no conflict between the Fourth Red Front Army and Sun Weiru's troops, thus defeating Chiang Kai shek's plot.
In October 1935, the Red Front Army arrived in northern Shaanxi during the Long March. On December 5 of the same year, when Mao Zedong learned about Yang Hucheng and the 17th Route Army, he wrote a letter to Yang Hucheng jointly with Peng Dehuai. In order to improve the success rate of the mission, Mao Zedong personally wrote a letter to Du Bincheng, the General Counsellor of the 17th Route Army, urging him to negotiate with Yang Hucheng, form a joint front with the Communist Party, and express his willingness to unite with Shen Ke and other Northeast Army generals and Deng Baoshan of Gansu. Mao Zedong sent Wang Feng to Xi'an with three personal letters he wrote to Yang Hucheng, Du Bincheng and Deng Baoshan respectively, to fight for the common resistance of the 17th Route Army. Mao Zedong wrote in his letter to Du Bincheng: "It is today that you are a leading figure in the northwest. You have joined hands and worked hard." Du Bincheng was very excited and sincerely introduced Yang Hucheng, the 17th Route Army and the Northeast Army to Wang Feng, and put forward pertinent suggestions on how to cooperate.
At the beginning of 1936, Yang Hucheng sent Du Bincheng to contact with the Communist Party and said that he would not invade the Red Army. Du Bincheng conveyed Yang Hucheng's wishes to the then underground party organizations in Shaanxi. In August, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China sent Zhang Wenbin to Xi'an. Zhang Wenbin carried the letter that Mao Zedong wrote to Du Bincheng again. Mao Zedong wrote in the letter: "Mr. Huchen (i.e., Yang Hucheng) agreed to the united front, but hoped to make further progress. The time is ripe, and when the fight against Japan and saving the country are responsible, Mr. Hu's words are rejuvenating the country, and he is looking forward to accelerating the efforts to promote, and the northwest departments are also looking forward to strong mediation." Du Bincheng thanked the Communist Party of China for its trust, active help Cooperate with Zhang Wenbin to carry out liaison work in Yang Hucheng Department.
On December 12, 1936, Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng launched the "Xi'an Incident", and Du Bincheng actively participated in it. After the incident broke out, the Shaanxi Provincial Government was reorganized, and Du Bincheng was appointed Secretary General of the Provincial Government; The Political Design Committee was established, and Du Bincheng is the design committee member. He quickly restored the functions of the provincial government, rectified the appearance of the city, issued the Shaanxi Provincial Government's commandments of Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng's "eight propositions", asked the CPC representative Zhou Enlai to report to the provincial departments, bureaus and representatives of various people's organizations at the Youth Association, and asked the representatives to go back and publicize widely.
After the peaceful settlement of the "Xi'an Incident", Chiang Kai shek betrayed his faith, imprisoned Zhang Xueliang, forced Yang Hucheng to go abroad for investigation, and ordered the Northeast Army and the 17th Route Army to withdraw from Xi'an and along the Longhai Railway. In February 1937, the Nanjing government used Shaanxi people to govern Shaanxi, appointed Sun Weiru as the chairman of Shaanxi Provincial Government, and Du Bincheng continued to serve as the secretary general of Shaanxi Provincial Government. At the beginning of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression in, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party cooperated again. Du Bincheng helped Sun Weiru preside over the Shaanxi government and did many good things for the country and the people. Mao Zedong called Du Bincheng "a loyal friend of the Communist Party of China".
In the autumn of 1938, Chiang Kai shek dismissed Du Bincheng from his position as the secretary general of the provincial government, and sent Hu Zongnan to join him as a counselor of the military committee, which was rejected by Du Bincheng. The Kuomintang Shaanxi Provincial Party Department also sent people twice to send the Kuomintang member registration forms, which were torn up by Du Bincheng. After that, Du Bincheng mobilized the masses in the Kuomintang controlled area to carry out the anti Japanese democratic movement, and sent his daughter Du Ruilan to Yan'an to participate in the revolution.
(Yuan Zhanhong and Hou Yiming Author's unit: Xi'an Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection, Shaanxi Province)