Zou Lu 1 and the Revolution

Zou Lu says, “We comrades of the Guomindang should be conscious of the fact that we certainly cannot negate all the old comrades just because some people say that they are not revolutionary. If our comrades had not fallen down repeatedly and got up again, how could there be a republic? If it had not been for all the campaigns to punish Yuan Shikai and to protect the constitution, to punish the rebels and carry out the Northern Expedition, history would not be what it is today. As for the exploit of which the Communists are so proud, the burning of the Merchants’ Corps, they had to rely on Yang and Liu. ² To defeat Yang and Liu they had to rely on Xu Chongzhi ³ 281and Liang Hongkai. ⁴ And in the present campaign against Xu and Liang, who is there, once again, but the old comrades?” ⁵ Very good, Mr. Zou! Then we invite you to make revolution! Indeed there is not a single person who dares undertake to negate the old revolutionary comrades! We must realize it is not enough just to have “the republic” and “history.” Revolution is still what we need today, and what we will need in the future. I think it would be better to use fewer examples of those old comrades like Yang and Liu and old comrades like Xu and Liang.