Millions of people all over the world paused April 4 to attend memorial services and other observances on the first anniversary of the passing of President Chiang Kai-shek. On the Chinese mainland, where such gatherings are proscribed by the Communists, hundreds of millions said silent prayers and mourned in their hearts. It was scarcely a coincidence that unprecedented violence erupted at Tienanmen Square on Tombsweeping Day, which was also the day of mourning for President Chiang.
Addressing solemn services at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei, President Yen Chia-kan said the loss of President Chiang "was an irretrievable loss to our people, our country and the world. However, his spirit continues to illumine our way like the sun in the heavens or a beacon on pitch-black nights."
Chief among the mourners were Madame Chiang Kai-shek, who had returned from medical treatment in New York only the day before, and Premier Chiang Ching-kuo, the elder son of President Chiang. Grief was deeply etched into Madame Chiang's face. Yet she showed limitless strength, just as she had in the sorrowful days that followed her husband's death in 1975. Premier Chiang gave Madame Chiang his arm as they entered and left the Memorial Hall followed by other members of the family. He had also escorted her down the ramp of the presidential plane at Taipei International Airport, and later accompanied her to Tzuhu to pay respects at the sarcophagus of the late President and Generalissimo.
The stage of the Memorial Hall was banked with chrysanthemums surmounted by a huge portrait of a smiling Chiang Kai-shek. Some 2,700 mourners, including large foreign delegations (Japan alone sent more than 60), stood in silent prayer, then heard college students chant memorial poems of tribute to the nation's long-time Leader. All three television networks carried the services live in color throughout the island. Programs in tribute to the Generalissimo were shown throughout the day and evening. Advertising was not permitted.
President Yen said the people of the Republic of China had kept faith with President Chiang by carrying out the instructions expressed in his Last Will and Testament. ''The teachings bequeathed to us President Chiang provide the criteria for the conduct to which the people aspire and also indicate the direction for our endeavors of national recovery and reconstruction." The chief executive made a special point of thanking the overseas Chinese and foreign dignitaries who had come from afar to honor the memory of President Chiang.
Premier Chiang paid his own personal tribute to the late President in an article "Thoughts of My Father at Plum Terrace" released on the eve of the Memorial Services (see page 14). "Today," he said, "our Leader rests in peace and seems not to speak, but the light and the heat radiated from Tzuhu have penetrated into the depths of every heart and have engendered visible and invisible national strength of unmatched power. This is the strength that has revived us in the depths of mourning. This is the strength that helped us conquer our adversities when we lost our psychological reliance last year. This is the strength that has kept us stable in a time of uneasiness. In its turn the stability enabled us to continue our progress. This verdant, immaculate, tranquil and inspiring site of Tzuhu has become the symbol of our fortitude, strength and struggle and a spiritual citadel in the anti-Communist revolution."
Tributes to President Chiang came not only at the services in Taipei but also at ceremonies held throughout Taiwan and in foreign countries all over the world. Foreign dignitaries, including former Prime Minister Nobusuki Kishi of Japan and the widow of the late Eisaku Sato, made the hour-long journey to Tzuhu to stand before the Generalissimo's Sarcophagus. Many who could not come sent cables and letters to Madame Chiang and Premier Chiang.
The Memorial Hall was opened to the public, just as it had been when the President's body was lying in state. Thousands passed the portrait. Many knelt in prayer. Some wept. The hours had to be extended to accommodate those who wished to show how much they missed the late President and wanted to rededicate themselves to the values for which he stood.
Leaders of the Generalissimo's stature are rare. President Chiang himself once summed this up in these words: "Those who are both capable and meritorious are of course the chosen ones in our search for people of great capability. However, such people are few and hard to find."
President Yen and others spoke of the genius with which President Chiang had shaped the future of the Republic of China for the era when his strong hand would no longer be at the helm. There was no succession problem. That had been arranged long before President Chiang's lengthy last illness. Nor was there ever any jockeying for shares or priorities of power.
President Yen was chosen by the Leader himself as a man greatly skilled in finance, economics and the arts of administration. At C.K. Yen's right hand as President of the Executive Yuan (the equivalent of a Western premier or prime minister), President Chiang had designated Chiang Ching-kuo, who had previously served as deputy premier, defense minister and in many other posts. The elevation of Chiang Ching-kuo involved no smallest element of nepotism. Premier Chiang had earned every' rung of his way up the career ladder - starting humbly and advancing slowly as he mastered each job. He had understudied Yen Chia-kan as deputy premier. So the new President in effect had his own deputy as premier when he stepped into the nation's top position. This was arranged by President Chiang as though he knew every detail of the future.
President Chiang had also built a superb governmental machine at secondary levels. When Chiang Ching-kuo took over the Executive Yuan from Yen Chia-kan, he did not find it necessary to make any changes in the Cabinet. When Yen took up the mantle laid down by President Chiang, he, too, found there was nothing to change. The Generalissimo had not only built well but for a long time to come. After April 5 of 1975, everything went forward as though Chiang Kai-shek was still at the wheel of the ship of state. The nation moved ahead on all fronts, meanwhile solidifying its spirit and determination to carry out the late President's instructions.
As the Generalissimo saw it, the manifest destiny of the Republic of China on Taiwan is the recovery of the mainland and the liberation of the hundreds of millions of tyrannized people there. President Chiang was certain he knew what was in the hearts of the mainland people. The free Chinese of Taiwan accept his conviction that the Chinese people across the Straits do not want Communism and that in the goodness of time they will exercise the Mandate of Heaven against the false dynasty under which they live. The rioters who roamed Tienanmen Square on the Day of Mourning for President Chiang were presenting evidence that the process is already well under way.
If the whole of President Chiang's long life were traced year by year or even day by day, it would be hard to find occasions when he was wrong. He did not succeed in every endeavor - the suppression of the Communists, for example - but his failures were always for the right reasons. The final battle with Communism is yet to be fought. Tributes all agreed that in the most meaningful sense, President Chiang is not dead. He is with the Chinese people still in spirit and even more than spirit. What the Republic of China has today, materialistically as well as intangibly, is largely owed to him and his lifetime of service. In 1976 as in 1975 and the years before, the Republic of China was moving on - a going concern and unchangingly intent on a free, democratic and united China - because of the inheritance from President Chiang.
Leading the names of all the other mourners at the first annual memorial services for President Chiang was that of Madame Chiang, whose courage has become a legend in her own time. As Premier Chiang revealed in his Diary, Madame Chiang was not well during her husband's illness. Yet she never spared herself in giving the President care and attention. She was exhausted and more than moderately ill at the time of the Generalissimo's passing. Without flinching, she stood stalwartly with sons, their wives, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Others broke under the strain of their deep mourning. Like the bamboos she loves to paint, Madame Chiang only bent a little and then snapped back to the erectness of her matchless dignity. Madame Chiang's health had obviously improved somewhat after the recent months of treatment. Prayers for the soul of President Chiang were accompanied by those for her good health and return to the immensely important services that she renders to the nation.
Others can take over her work of helping crippled children, caring for the dependents of military careerists and providing leadership for the women's anti-aggression movement. But only Madame Chiang is able to speak - out of the deep experience of her husband's faith and her own - of the certain triumph of Heaven over the evil forces which beset China and the world. China has a deep need for Madame Chiang. If she is well enough to allow it, she is expected to go back to her work as the greatest freedom fighter of her sex and perhaps - with the Generalissimo gone from the scene - the greatest Crusader left in Christendom.
The text of President Yen's address follows:
This is a never-to-be-forgotten day of sorrow. Our great leader President Chiang Kai-shek left us just a year ago. His passing was an irretrievable loss to our people, our country and the world. However, his spirit continues to illumine our way like the sun in the heavens or a beacon on pitchblack nights. In this past year, the sorrow and the mourning deep in our hearts have not been mitigated in the slightest. Neither has hardworking spirit of our country been even momentarily dampened by our tragedy. This shows that the people have made the instructions bequeathed by the late President their code of conduct and have transformed their grief into power.
President Chiang Kai-shek told us: "A modem country must have a built-in fundamental force to assure the incessant motivation, improvement and innovation of everything, so that the running of the country can proceed according to plan and the life of the country can be extended indefinitely. This fundamental force is the life of the country; the waxing and waning of this force will be decisive for the well-being of the people and in the ups and downs of the country." In the Republic of China, this fundamental force was provided by President Chiang's leadership, because that leadership aroused in each person the sense of responsibility to the country. President Chiang's spirit is also the spirit of our country and our people; the road he showed us is the road of our survival and development. In a world of treachery and turbulence, we always adhered to our national goals. We have never' hesitated or wavered in the face of external adversities. Nor have we winced at any ominous sight of the moment. This last year has been marked by our society's progressive and constructive atmosphere; we have made great advances in national construction. We can cite the following accomplishments to comfort the soul of our late President:
1. The growing solidarity of the people: I recall that when President Chiang left this world, the mourning that came from the depths of the people's hearts showed that his spirit imbued all of the people of our country, military and civilians alike. This spirit will remain with us. Faced with adversities and a variety of blows, the whole nation - from top to bottom - has united sincerely in heart and action. Our compatriots at home are not alone in demonstrating their unconquerable dedication and their determination to carry out the late President's instructions. The overseas Chinese who are residing in countries with or without diplomatic relations with us have overcome all manner of difficulties and have distinguished loyalty from treason. They have fully exemplified their love for our country, their respect for our leader and their sincerity toward our government. This spirit of mutual consideration, mutual support, national unity and common dedication is actually the righteous spirit of the Chinese people as a whole. It is also a sincere response to the summons of the late President. When he was confined to his bed, the late President jotted down these words: "If we can unite in heart and in will, be together in life and death and share our lot in victory and defeat, I am sure that with this bastion in our hands we shall succeed in our great undertaking of national recovery despite our precarious position of today." We are convinced that the present great solidarity of our people will be the instrument of carrying out our great undertaking of national recovery and reconstruction.
2. Day-by-day progress in our political construction: The government is moving steadily toward our long-range goal and implementing the basic policy of the nation by rallying the great force of the people behind national construction. While strengthening national defense and proceeding with economic development, the government also has been making parallel advances in culture, education, social welfare and other areas to augment the nation's power and bring happiness to the people. Our current accomplishments in national construction are attributable to the resourcefulness and hard work of government employees, construction workers and the whole people. This attests to the unshakable unity of the people from top to bottom. In the last year, we have also held elections for additional members of the Legislative Yuan. These elections, the first to be conducted since the late President's passing, were highly successful. The people were enthusiastic in expressing themselves and lived up to our expectation that they would "elect the wise and the able." This shows their support of democracy and their appreciation of the political rights accorded them by the Constitution. We are thoroughly aware that the functions of democracy can be carried out only when the people have a stable life. These elections reflected the people's determination to implement the late President's life-long hopes for democracy.
3. Continuous and steady economic development: Despite the buffeting of the worldwide economic storm, we have overcome all difficulties and made steady progress in economic construction. Industry and agriculture have advanced side by side; construction and education have marched forward together. For last year, our price indices remained stable, our national income continued to climb and foreign trade again did well. The Ten Major Construction Projects, which are intended to further our economic potential and promote the happiness of all the people, have been progressing according to schedule. Some have even over-fulfilled their targets. All this results from government's determination and courage in planning and implementation, and the sincere and vigorous support of the people. In the past year, we also produced the First Six-Year Economic Development Plan. Our objective goes further than improvement of the economic structure, the exploitation of economic resources and increase of our potential strength to meet the requirements of economic modernization. Scope of the plan is not limited to economic construction. We are also promoting social construction and cultural construction so as to make comprehensive progress toward the construction target of the Principle of Social Well-Being in accordance with the instructions of President Chiang.
4. Unceasing development of our external relations: After President Chiang's passing, some people of the world could have taken a wait-and-see attitude and speculated about what our future stand would be. In fact, we have always adhered to our position of remaining in the democratic camp and carried out our anti-Communist policy. The President's Last Will and Testament hardened the self-confidence of the people, strengthened their solidarity, smashed the enemy's conspiracy of isolating us by every means and foiled the enemy's ruse of demoralizing our people through "peace negotiations" and deceiving the overseas Chinese. Our self-confidence and unity are a cogent reply to international observers and have won the applause of democratic peoples of all the world. We have been striving to expand our foreign relationships. In the last year we have continued to develop economic, trade, cultural and other substantial relations with all non-Communist countries of the world. Additionally, we have promoted friendship and cooperation with the peoples of various countries. Since we stand on the side of democracy and justice, we shall be able to do more than control the objective factors with our subjective factors; we shall be able to change the external situation with our strength, so long as we maintain our spirit of independence and insist on being self-reliant and self-respecting while working hard and struggling forward.
These are the guidelines of our participation in international affairs and in our development of diplomatic relations; they are based on the conviction that we shall have friends if our cause is just.
Today we are working hard on various construction projects in keeping with the instructions bequeathed us by President Chiang and our established target. All of our projects are planted in the soil of national culture and growing up from the foundation of democracy and the rule of law. All are based on the equitable distribution of wealth, social prosperity, peace and happiness. The present achievements of our construction in this bastion of national recovery provide blueprints for construction in the recovered mainland of tomorrow. To work harder today will mean better preparation for mainland recovery and a shorter distance to go in the National Revolution. The storm of power struggle has blown up again within the Maoist regime, bringing enormous turmoil and exposing a grave crisis. That regime cannot escape its fate of collapse. We must set our sights on the more than 10 million square kilometers of our people's living space and struggle to the victorious end for the recovery of the mainland and the liberation of our suffering compatriots. Only when the mainland is recovered can the people enjoy the blessings of the Three Principles of the People; only when the mainland is recovered can the China problem be finally solved and the Communist threat to Asia and the world be completely terminated. On that day the high-minded wishes and teachings of President Chiang for saving the people, the country and the world will be fulfilled.
I recall that at the memorial services for the 89th birthday of the late President last October 31, I enumerated four of his virtues for the admonition and encouragement of my colleagues and for our emulation. These merits were "prescience and foresight," "determination and confidence," "innovation and implementation" and "unselfishness and selflessness." The late President's thought, spirit, determination and personality were too exceptional to be described even in part in such a brief span as this. He embodied great wisdom, great magnanimity and great courage. He was a paragon of perspicacity, composure and intrepidity. He told us: "Wisdom comes from learning, benevolence is a cherished virtue and courage expresses itself in one's assurance of justice." He urged us to share wisdom one with the other, to be raised up together through magnanimity and to emulate one another through courage. President Chiang's prescience gave us confidence. His magnanimity toward the people and in the handling of state affairs gave us hearts of love. His courage and resolution gave us determination. So it is that our confidence, love and determination were drawn from the late President's cultivation, training and influence.
Wisdom, magnanimity and courage are three of the cardinal virtues in the traditional ethics of the Chinese people. President Chiang possessed all three. He said: "Historically, the moment evil forces ran amok was also the crucial moment for dedicated fighters and magnanimous people to persist in the great wisdom of distinguishing right from wrong and good from evil so as to fulfill the great benevolence in the salvation of the country and the people and to cultivate the great courage of realizing their shame and taking up their responsibility, thereby breaking through all adversities and reversing the engulfing tide. In other words, this is also precisely the moment to reverse ill fortune and to assure one's own salvation and that of the country." We have come to the crucial moment at which the people of the world find themselves at the crossroads of weal or woe. It is up to us to take hold of this opportunity and create a favorable situation. This will be of the greatest significance in carrying out the teachings of the late President.
The Doctrine of the Mean says: "To be fond of learning is to be close to knowledge. To act vigorously is to be close to magnanimity. To feel shame is to be close to courage." To be fond of learning is to possess the spirit of research and examination, to act vigorously is to have the spirit of implementation and to feel shame is to be imbued with the spirit of revolution. We were so inculcated by President Chiang during his lifetime. While we are able to promote this spirit, all difficulties will be transformed into opportunities for victory rather than obstacles in our way. The teachings bequeathed us by President Chaing provide the criteria for the conduct to which the people aspire and also indicate the direction for our endeavors of national recovery and reconstruction. We must keep these criteria always in mind. We must overcome all hardships and pass all tests to assure victory and eventual success. This is the oath we send up from our hearts in tribute to our late President. Only in so doing can we live up to the expectations of President Chiang.
Many overseas Chinese have returned to attend these memorial services for the late President. This amply demonstrates their sincere respect for our great Leader. I am particularly appreciative of the friendship of foreign dignitaries coming here for the specific purpose of paying their respects to the late President Chiang. I wish to express my gratitude to all of them.