March 29, 1970
Youths of the nation:
Revolution is identified with human progress and symbolizes the awakening of a people. Everyone knows that he must save himself and assure his own freedom, and in addition, that he must safeguard the freedom of his country and prevent it from being enslaved by a foreign power or subjected to despotic, violent rule. There is no force that can halt or overwhelm the boundless magnitude of this ineffable strength.
Inspired by the call of our founding father, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, for the salvation of nation, people and self, the 72 young martyrs enshrined in the Yellow Flower Mound launched their earth-shaking revolution on this day sixty years ago. The shock wave of their great deed traveled through Asia like an electric current. The magnificence of their spirit will serve as an example through hundreds of centuries to come.
The history of the National Revolution during the last six decades bears out this one truth: The youths are creating the times and the times are challenging the youths.
The 72 young martyrs were elite vanguards of the National Revolution. What they created was the era of the national founding, which was marked by the overthrow of despotic rule, the establishment of the Republic and the opening of the San Min Chu I epoch of the equality of the people, the sovereignty of the people and the prosperity and happiness of the people's livelihood. This success came only after ten revolutionary attempts, of which nine failed, and was the result of the unshakeable determination of these youths to shed their blood and make sacrifices
What was created by the 500 military instructors and cadets of the Whampoa Military Academy in the Eastward and Northward Expeditions was the glorious era of national unification. The country could not engage in construction and the people could not lead a new life of struggle until the tyrannical warlords had been eliminated. However, this unification was achieved only after we had successfully overcome the treacherous attempts of the Chinese Communists to splinter our unity, surmounted the imperialist intrigue of obstructionism, and undergone heavy suffering, humiliation and sacrifice.
What was created by the youths in the War of the Resistance Against Japan was an unprecedented epoch of victory. We upheld national righteousness, extinguished the flames of aggression, did away with the unequal treaties implemented constitutional rule and made a start toward realizing the human ideal of peace. This victory was attained after 14 years of suffering in which tens of millions of people, military and civilian alike, lost their lives and during which the country was brought to the brink of irremediable catastrophe.
The challenge confronting the youths on the mainland today is the destruction and elimination of the acculturation and education of our people by the traitorous Maoist Communists under the guise of "cultural revolution' and "educational reform". "Poor and lower-middle" peasants have been assigned to primary and middle schools in rural areas so as to gain control of educational power. Universities teaching literature and the liberal arts have been transformed into "writing groups of workers, peasants and soldiers". "Political night schools" have been widely established in villages, townships, factories, mining areas and other places, and classes are given the year around to compel the people to study the "quotations of Mao Tse-tung". These classes have replaced the education normally given in all the schools.
Ten-year-old children are compelled to serve as "little red soldiers". Twelve-year-olds must join the "young army corps". Boys are drafted into the regular army at the age of 16. The traitorous Communists' destruction of the youth of our country, their poisoning and contraining of human conscience, and their destruction of our national culture are terrifying challenges that bid us shed our blood in sacrifice for the survival of our people.
Challenges facing the youths of today, at home and abroad, are not confined o those generated by international isolationists and appeasers who connive in crime, distort justice and resort to compromises for the sake of transitory peace. These are actions that have abetted aggression, have helped the Communists infiltrate a "lost generation" already corrupted by its indulgence in drugs and lave led to the ignoring of a generation which is continuing to offer resistance in he midst of the bloody, stinking ruins of he mainland. Despite their ignorance, these youths must face the further challenge of how to become upright, progressive citizens of the nation through renovation, growth and revitalization. The nation and the people will find their very existence threatened if they indulge themselves in debauchery and corruption, or if they violate the requirements of decorum and righteousness. This era is fraught with crises that challenge the virtue, responsibility and determination of China's sons and daughters.
Once the young people have reformed themselves and understand the necessity of saving their integrity, their lives, their country and their people, they will be able to demonstrate their total rejection of the Communists in the life or death struggle on the mainland. In the pursuit of benevolence, they have assumed the responsibility of resuscitating the national soul and of terminating the national humiliation. They have been tested in the crucible of crisis and have responded to the summons to right the wrongs of injustice in an era of hope created by their magnificent deeds.
Degeneracy and confusion are to be seen in all four cardinal points of the compass. Only we retain both our stability and our spirit. All those around us are at a loss. Only we are soberly confident. All around us are to be found the hesitant and the cowardly. Only we are courageous and without fear. Not until we have recovered the mainland can the China issue be finally solved and a resolution of the red disaster be wrested out of the chaos, bewilderment and cowardice that afflict Asia and the world. So I say "There is no force that can halt or overwhelm the boundless magnitude of this ineffable strength".
Dr. Sun Yat-sen once told us: "In learning from the revolutionary martyrs of the Yellow Flower Mound for the salvation of the country and the people, you must profit from their motives and spirit, and especially from their moral dedication to the salvation of nation and people through the sacrifice of their own lives. To put it briefly, one should begin with the study of how to serve the people."
No matter what subject you may be studying or what occupation you may taking up, you must:
-Possess the revolutionary spirit of optimism, creativity and service to others so as courageously to face up to this era of confusion and bewilderment.
-Have the patience to learn how to serve the people and struggle for the welfare of the nation, and especially to acquire the combat skills required in confronting the enemy. You then can take up combat responsibility on the front lines or in the rear of the enemy and serve in the movement of Mao suppression and national salvation.
-Uphold revolutionary moral concepts and support the traditional willingness to struggle and sacrifice. You should be concerned about national affairs and the development of the enemy's affairs. In this way you can assure correct orientation for revolution that is dedicated to national salvation and lead the way toward the bright future of scientific national reconstruction.
We should, in other words, provide for the further display of our strength in the cause of justice and create a new era of righteousness by emerging from these times of confusion and transforming cowardice into courage.
The era thus opened up will be one of greatness and hope, marked by national recovery, unification and glorious victory. In this new epoch, class struggle will be eradicated and succeeded by harmony and cooperation; despotism and violence will be renounced forever and replaced by service to the people; political chicanery and the treachery of schism and sabotage will be permanently terminated and followed by natural revolution, stability and the progress of the nation. Science no longer will be misused for purposes of intimidation and war; history and culture will not be tampered with or interrupted; national minorities will not again be subjected to terrorism and persecution; families will not be broken up; land and food will no longer be wrongfully controlled or taken away; personal dignity will be free from insult and attack; everyone will be free to enjoy his freedom and to possess his own property. Our 700 million compatriots again will have the opportunity to make consistent contributions to civilization and the happiness of mankind. The more than 10,000,000 square kilometers of our territory will become the permanent cornerstone of lasting peace and justice. We shall measure up to the founding father's expectation for youth - that is, "to reconstruct a solemn and beautiful new China of the people, by the people and for the people". This will mark the revolutionary awakening of the youths of the nation, and this is also their revolutionary responsibility. Let us rise up to perpetuate the monumental deeds and the shining history of the 72 young martyrs enshrined at the Yellow Flower Mound.