As Confucius said, the state goes well with an upright ruler, and so it was with the Republic of China under the generalissimo. He pledged victory would assure a new start for the nation
This is the last paragraph of the April 5 entry in "Thoughts About My Father at Tzuhu," a diary kept by Chiang Ching-kuo from April 5 to May 5, 1975: "At 8:30 in the evening, Father's doctor telephoned and asked me to come to Shihlin immediately. When I arrived, I learned that Father's heart was beating irregularly and that his blood pressure was falling. The situation was critical. This had happened while Father was asleep. In spite of all emergency measures taken during the next few hours, he failed to rally and finally passed away. Members of the family fell to their knees at Father's bedside, profoundly grieved and crying uncontrollably. Mother and I lost consciousness. At this very moment, a thunderstorm broke overhead and heavy rain fell. As the old saying goes, 'The winds howl and the clouds darken as heaven and earth grieve' for a fallen leader. By midnight, the responsible leaders of the Party, the Government and the Armed Forces had arrived to pay their respects at Father's bedside. Father's face wore a look of perfect peace, as though he were only asleep. When, in my capacity as President of the Executive Yuan (Premier), I put my name to the last will and testament that Father had dictated March 29, 1975, my hand trembled so much that my signature was scarcely recognizable."
Such is the account of the son, President Chiang Ching-kuo, of the death of the father, President Chiang Kai-shek, whose 95th birthday (94th by Western reckoning) is observed this year by Free Chinese people all over the world and quietly in their hearts by millions shut behind the iron curtain of Communism on the Chinese mainland. The pain of Chiang Kai-shek's loss has been dulled but the great inspiration of his leadership continues to be sorely missed.
On April 10, Chiang Ching-kuo wrote: "From 7 in the morning, the people began to congregate at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall to pay their respects to Father as his body lay in state. They came in wave after wave, like the tides of the sea. It was estimated that as many as 280,000 passed by the casket on the first day — men and women, young and old, crying out loudly. As they filed across the auditorium, many knelt and did not rise for a long time. Such a scene is unprecedented. Many of these people had come from faraway cities and places; all showed the agony of their deep grief. Such true sentiments, sincerely expressed, were indeed precious and wonderful to behold. There is no one else on earth who could have been revered by so many."
On April 16, the body of Chiang Kai-shek was laid to temporary rest at Tzuhu (pending reentombment at Nanking after the recovery of the Chinese mainland from the Communists). Chiang Ching-kuo wrote: "I accompanied Mother to the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in the early morning. The state funeral rites began at 8:05 as the family gathered around the casket, crying openly. It was my duty to close the casket. Christian funeral services began at 8:30. Special envoys and delegations from many nations attended. The atmosphere was solemn and sorrowful.
"The funeral procession to Tzuhu left the Memorial Hall at 9:30. More than two million people seeking to pay their last respects to Father lined the 38-mile route through Taipei City, across the Chung Hsing Bridge, along the North-South Freeway and through Taoyuan and Tachi before reaching Tzuhu. Lined up on both sides of the roadway, some of the people wore traditional Chinese mourning dress. Many knelt on the ground for as long as three or four hours. People were sobbing out their grief. To see and hear them only deepened my own sorrow.
"When the procession reached the Tzuhu residence, Father's casket was placed in the black granite sarcophagus in the center of the main hall. After paying my respects before the altar in accordance with the traditional Chinese rites, I was overcome with grief and fainted. The doctors gave me emergency treatment, but I did not fully revive until some hours later. By then it was nearly dusk. Most people had left and the house was nearly empty. I spent the night beside Father's sarcophagus but could not sleep. At midnight I arose and sat in the hall for a long time, overcome by feelings of emptiness and loneliness. Then I recalled the moving scene of the people mourning along the route of the procession the day before. Suddenly I felt incomprehensible strength flowing in upon me from every direction. I became wholly convinced that this strength was the guarantee of the people's support for the government in its great task of recovering the mainland from the Communists. The current situation might be immensely difficult, but the nation's future was replete with greatness and promise."
Approaching the Generalissimo's 95th birthday, it would seem that few men in human history have inspired such sentiments. The "incomprehensible strength" has stood the Republic of China and the Free Chinese people in good stead. The storms of international buffeting and economic difficulties have been weathered. In a year that brought the Republic to its 70th milestone, the image of Chiang Kai-shek was burnished ever brighter. He was remembered not only for his statesmanship, his patriotism and his great leadership, but also for his wisdom. In the days just before his death, he had written: "I regard the nation's rise or fall as my personal responsibility. I have no concern for my own life or death."
This was not a dying thought. It was the meaning of Chiang Kai-shek's whole life from the simple beginnings as poor boy in Chekiang Province to his military training in China and Japan, to his lessons at the side of the Founding Father Dr. Sun Yat-sen, to his inheritance of Dr. Sun's mantle and leadership of the Northward Expedition to unify China and the War of Resistance Against Japan, to the reconstruction of the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, and to the continuous, unrelenting and ultimately victorious war against Communism.
Like Confucius, on whose precepts he was raised, Chiang Kai-shek was known for his ability to epitomize great truths in relatively few words. Once he said: "Old trees can stand straight and reach high into the sky because they are deeply rooted. If a man of fortitude is to stand up straight in the world, he must have courage as well as conviction. The stronger his conviction, the firmer will be his foundation, the greater his achievements and the larger his contribution to the nation. If the foundation is unshakable, the results will be unlimited." As Chiang Ching-kuo commented, "No word or sentence of Father was lacking in deep philosophical meaning."
These are some precepts from the wisdom of Chiang Kai-shek:
On Victory — We are not only seeking victory in our counterattack but are simultaneously assuring the success of national restoration and construction. We not only want to wipe out any lingering traces of Chinese Communism, but also want to see that the ideals set forth in the Three Principles of the People are fully realized and that a foundation for a modern life is laid for the Chinese people. Our policy is not to restore the entire past; rather, we want to start afresh and build anew. We shall not only resolve the difficulties presently facing us but at the same time shall nip in the bud any recurrence of Chinese Communism. We shall not only uphold the interests of the majority but shall realize an economic system based on freedom and equitable distribution of wealth and a society with equal emphasis on education and recreation.
On China and the Chinese people—China's long history is due to her inherent virtues and is at the same time a manifestation of her culture. As all know, the fundamentals of Chinese morality are loyalty, filial devotion, kindness, love, faithfulness, justice, harmony and equity, and the principles upon which the Chinese state has been established are propriety, righteousness, integrity and honor. Under the influence of the Eight Virtues and Four Cardinal Principles, China has been able to keep its promises and discharge its duties, and in dealing with others, to put itself in their place and avoid conflict. Where justice demands, China acts uprightly and bravely; where profit is to be gained, she shares unselfishly. She neither fears the strong and aggressive nor bullies the weak and small. Five thousand years' experience of alternating order and chaos, prosperity and decay, has inculcated in our nation a deep sense of integrity and honor, and a capacity for bearing humiliation and shouldering responsibility. This sense of integrity makes China desire to keep no more than its rightful share; this sense of honor impels China to strengthen itself. Because China keeps no more than its rightful share, it does not insult or oppress others; because China never fails to strengthen itself, it cannot allow itself to be insulted or oppressed.
On Communism — Today's struggle against Communism is fundamentally a struggle between ideologies and between cultures. Before it is determined on the battlefield, it will first be resolved by public sentiment. It is a struggle to be won not necessarily by force, but by moral and spiritual rehabilitation.
On the Constitution — As the fundamental law of the land, the Constitution embodies supreme authority and enjoys absolute sanctity. But its value lies in thorough implementation rather than codification. There has been a variety of codifications in the constitutional history of various countries. Many constitutions were scrapped before the ink was dry because of impediments written into them by lawmakers.
On national spirit — There are great interests, long-range interests and immediate interests. The great interests involve country and people; small ones involve an individual, a family or a locality; long-range and immediate interests represent the future and the present. One must know where the great interests lie and make those of the country and the people, not those of the individual, the central goal. A wise man sacrifices his small personal interests for great national interests.
Chinese culture — In its 5,000-year-old history, China has been overrun by bandit gangs and invaders on several occasions. No matter how long they held power, whether for scores or hundreds of years, they were always defeated, assimilated in Chinese culture and at last brought under the rule of the Chinese people. The more Chinese culture suffers, the brighter it shines.
On democracy — Chinese democracy is firmly founded on the time-honored Chinese concept of the people's dignity and rights.
On ethical conduct — With sense of right and honor, a man is wise; without these, a wise man is foolish ... Do yourself what you would ask others to do.
On faith — Material comforts are not all that count in life. Far more noble is spiritual life, the highest form of human existence.
On freedom — Our demand for freedom must be preceded by self-strengthening. There is a limit to freedom, which should never be taken to mean the enjoyment of one's rights and privileges without the discharge of one's duties.
On goals - We must have a sense of reality.
Our goals must match our capabilities, our words and our deeds.
On education — The purpose of learning is to help the world.
On work — Labor is the keystone of man's code of conduct. It should never be scorned; it should be respected and even held sacred.
On life — The life of an individual is but a tiny dot in the life of the multitude. Only the larger life of the multitude can give added meaning and totality to individual life ... Life is a series of struggles.
On mankind — To live is to seek a better life for all mankind.
On peace — No victory in war is complete unless it assures a just, stable and lasting peace.
On philosophy — Chinese philosophy is based on the concept of unity of heaven and earth in which the mind outweighs the material. But it takes mind and matter together to constitute an entity and form a synthesis.
These are only a few of the truths of Chiang Kai-shek, of whom Confucius would have said: "If a ruler is upright, all will go well without orders." The people followed Chiang Kai-shek because he was an upright ruler in the ancient pattern of the Chinese sage kings.