ABSTRACT
One of the most intriguing endeavors of the Kuomintang during its rule on the mainland was the New Life Movement, which was designed to cope with the "spiritlessness" of the country. On February 19, 1934, Chiang Kai-shek gave a speech in Nanchang, Kiangsi, in which he for the first time called for a "movement to achieve a new life." This speech launched the New Life Movement. On February 21, two days later, the Nanchang New Life Movement Promotion Association was established. The main goal of the New Life Movement was to lead the Chinese people to a more rational life with three separate but interrelated facets: the cultural, the productive, and the militarized modes of life. Chiang Kai-shek wanted the New Life Movement to be a movement of the people, but he also wanted some kind of organization to give the movement impetus so that it would grow. His compromise was the promotion associations.
