Zhao Xiuli: The July 7th Incident marked the start of the Chinese nation's comprehensive resistance against Japanese invaders
General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: "History is history, and facts are facts; no one can change history or the facts. The Chinese people, having made immense sacrifices, will unswervingly defend the history written with blood and lives. Should anyone attempt to deny, distort, or even beautify the history of aggression, the Chinese people and the peoples of all nations will never permit it!" Following the July 7 Incident [1], the Chinese people composed a majestic epic that "startled the heavens and moved the gods" [2], manifesting the steadfast will of the sons and daughters of China to struggle and sacrifice for national liberation, and demonstrating the formidable power of the Chinese nation’s unity and progress.
Facilitating the Formation of the Anti-Japanese National United Front
Immediately following the outbreak of the July 7 Incident, the Communist Party of China (CPC) sent a telegram to the entire nation, calling upon all compatriots, the government, and the military to unite and build a solid Great Wall of the Anti-Japanese National United Front to resist the aggression of the Japanese invaders. This signaled a resolute determination not to allow Japanese imperialism to seize a single inch of Chinese territory and to shed the last drop of blood to defend the motherland. The CPC Central Committee called upon all Party members "not to relax for a single moment or miss a single opportunity to conduct propaganda among the masses, organize the masses, and arm the masses." On July 15, 1937, the CPC Central Committee stated in its declaration on Kuomintang-Communist cooperation: "Only internal unity within our nation can defeat the aggression of Japanese imperialism." The declaration received enthusiastic responses and praise from compatriots across the country. To facilitate the establishment of a broad Anti-Japanese National United Front as quickly as possible, the CPC Central Committee called on every Party member to become an initiator, propagandist, and organizer of national salvation movements and organizations in various localities, leading and mobilizing the people for the war of resistance with a sincere, frank, and humble attitude and diligent work.
On August 13, 1937, the Battle of Shanghai erupted. Under the pressure of fighting on both northern and southern fronts, the Nationalist Government agreed to the demands for the reorganization of the Red Army. On August 25, the Revolutionary Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee issued an order announcing that the Red Army would be renamed the Eighth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army. Subsequently, the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Revolutionary Base Area was renamed the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, and guerrilla forces in eight southern provinces were reorganized into the New Fourth Army of the National Revolutionary Army. On September 22, the Central News Agency of the Kuomintang published the Declaration of the CPC Central Committee on the Publication of Kuomintang-Communist Cooperation. In December, the CPC issued a declaration pointing out that "greater unity of the anti-Japanese forces of the entire nation is indeed the central key to saving the situation," and that consolidating the close cooperation between the two parties—the Kuomintang and the Communist Party—was the central link in consolidating and expanding the Anti-Japanese National United Front. After the July 7 Incident, resisting aggression and saving the nation from extinction became the common will and action of all Chinese political parties, ethnic groups, classes, social strata, organizations, as well as overseas Chinese. The whole-of-nation resistance became the "magic weapon" for victory in the War of Resistance.
Promoting the Awakening of the Entire Nation
After the outbreak of the July 7 Incident, the 29th Army stationed in Beiping and Tianjin rose up in resistance, and the CPC called for support for the 29th Army’s fight. The CPC repeatedly emphasized that "the only way out for China is to resolutely resist to the end." Zhu De pointed out that the July 7 Incident signaled that the period for peace had reached its point of despair and the national crisis had reached its final moment: "The question before every son and daughter of China and every descendant of the Yellow Emperor [3] is only to implement resistance against the Japanese bandits, to move from the local resistance in North China to a nationwide resistance, and to move from the resistance of the 29th Army to a unified resistance by all the people from top to bottom, resisting until the very end!"
The July 7 Incident demonstrated that the national contradiction between China and Japan had risen to become the primary contradiction. The Chinese nation had no other choice; a whole-of-nation resistance was the only path to survival. The step-by-step encroachment of the Japanese invading army stimulated a national awakening, making the Chinese people gradually realize that concession, compromise, and retreat were dead ends. The Chinese people could only find a way out and seek survival through the war of resistance. At the moment where there was no further room for retreat, the Chinese nation was bound to burst forth with renewed courage to destroy the enemy and rejuvenate the country. Following the July 7 Incident, the Japanese army’s relentless bombing of Chinese cities, the "Three Alls Policy" [4] against the base areas, the atrocities in Nanjing, and the use of biological and chemical warfare brought profound disasters to the people in the occupied territories and base areas. The Japanese army’s appalling atrocities and plunder linked the destiny of every Chinese individual closely with the destiny of the state and the nation, and the Chinese nation exhibited unprecedented cohesion. Through the unity of the whole-of-nation resistance, the Chinese nation showed the people of the world that it is a nation of unity, struggle, and a spirit of resistance and combativeness. The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression promoted the awareness and unity of the Chinese people, such that "none of the great struggles of the Chinese people over the past century can compare to it."
Sublimating the National Spirit
The July 7 Incident is a painful memory for the Chinese nation; it stimulated a national spirit of "remembering shame and contemplating change" [5] and "ceaseless self-improvement," facilitating a universal awakening of the Chinese nation. At the final moment of Japanese imperialism’s encroachment, the Chinese nation united as one. Through 14 years of arduous resistance and the sacrifice of tens of millions of people, victory was won, thoroughly washing away a century of humiliation. The CPC promoted the establishment of and consistently maintained the consolidation of the Anti-Japanese National United Front, opposed compromise and surrender, and proposed a comprehensive line for whole-of-nation resistance and the strategy of protracted war. On the battlefield behind enemy lines, a large number of Communist Party members took the lead and fought bloody battles, fully exerting their role as vanguard models. In the base areas, there emerged anti-Japanese generals who gave their lives for the country, such as Yang Jingyu, Zhao Shangzhi, Zuo Quan, and Peng Xuefeng, as well as heroic groups like the "Five Heroes of Mount Langya" and the "Liu Laozhuang Company." They built a Great Wall of resistance with their own flesh and blood, demonstrating the great power of the anti-Japanese military and civilians under the leadership of the CPC, and causing the Japanese army to sink into the vast ocean of people's war. The CPC, by persisting in resistance to the end, played the role of the "mainstay" (zhongliu dizhu) [6] and became the key to victory in the War of Resistance.
The whole-of-nation resistance stimulated a national spirit centered on patriotism, which became the decisive factor in the victory. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, national awakening and the national spirit were sublimated to a completely new height. The Chinese people displayed to the world a patriotic sentiment of "responsibility for the rise and fall of the nation lying with every individual" [7], a national integrity of "facing death with equanimity and preferring death to surrender," a heroic spirit of "fearing no brutality and fighting to the bitter end," and a conviction of victory characterized by "indomitability and perseverance." The Great War of Resistance Spirit has become a precious spiritual asset for the Chinese people, serving as a powerful spiritual force that inspires them to overcome all difficulties and obstacles and to strive for the Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation.
The July 7 Incident is a painful historical memory for the Chinese nation. In commemorating the July 7 Incident, we must expand the depth and breadth of academic research to forcefully refute the Japanese conspiracy to deny the history of aggression against China. In commemorating the July 7 Incident, we must remember history, honor the martyrs, and let the alarm bells ring long and loud.