Wang Xiliang: The Great Spirit of the War of Resistance Originated in the Mountains and Rivers of Northeast China
On September 3, 2025, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out at the meeting commemorating the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War: "The Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was an important part of the World Anti-Fascist War. With enormous national sacrifice, the Chinese people made a major contribution to saving human civilization and defending world peace." On September 18, 1931, the Japanese Kwantung Army launched the September 18th Incident to swallow up Northeast China. Starting from that day, the great spirit of the War of Resistance originated among the "white mountains and black waters" [1] of Northeast China. A large group of Communists took the lead by setting examples, fearing no sacrifice, and advancing wave upon wave to charge into battle on the front lines of the anti-Japanese struggle. With their blood and lives, they nurtured, forged, and sublimated the great spirit of the War of Resistance. As a brilliant page in the spiritual pedigree of Chinese Communists [2], it has forever become a precious spiritual asset of the Chinese nation, guiding the nation to continue its progress on the new journey. The practice of the 14-year anti-Japanese struggle also fully proves that the Communist Party of China (CPC) is worthy of the title of the "pillar of strength" [3] in the War of Resistance.
Braving National Crisis: The CPC Immediately Issues the Call for Resistance
The outbreak of the September 18th Incident, in which Japan seized Northeast China, meant the fracturing of the motherland and a crisis for the nation. On September 19, the day after the incident, the CPC Manchuria Provincial Committee, standing on the front lines of the resistance, immediately published the "Manifesto on the Imperialist Japanese Armed Occupation of Manchuria." On September 20, the CPC Manchuria Provincial Committee and the Provincial Committee of the Communist Youth League jointly published the "Letter to Korean Workers, Peasants, Students, and All Toiling Masses Against the Imperialist Japanese Armed Occupation of Manchuria." On September 21, the CPC Manchuria Provincial Committee further issued the "Resolution on the Imperialist Japanese Armed Occupation of Manchuria and the Current Urgent Tasks of the Party." The CPC Manchuria Provincial Committee clarified the causes of the September 18th Incident, condemned the aggressive acts of Japanese imperialism, criticized the policy of non-resistance pursued by the Nationalist Government and the Northeast authorities, and called upon people from all walks of life in the Northeast to rise up in struggle to "drive imperialism out of China." At the same time, while being encircled by heavy Nationalist forces and persisting in the armed struggle in the Soviet Areas, the CPC assessed the situation with the patriotic sentiment that "every man bears responsibility for the rise and fall of the nation" [4]. On September 20, in the name of the CPC Central Committee, it released the "Manifesto on the Incident of Imperialist Japanese Violent Occupation of the Three Eastern Provinces." On the same day, the Central Worker-Peasant Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Soviet Republic also published the "Manifesto on the Manchurian Incident." On September 22, the CPC Central Committee issued the "Resolution on the Incident of Imperialist Japanese Forcible Occupation of Manchuria." Subsequently, the CPC Central Committee successively released a series of letters to the people of the whole country, manifestos, and other documents. These documents exposed the purpose and essence of the Japanese imperialist seizure of Northeast China, criticized the Nationalist Government’s non-resistance policy, and clearly stated that "only the revolutionary iron fist of the broad masses can stop the atrocities of imperialism and drive imperialism out of China."
After the September 18th Incident, some Northeast army and police personnel, local gentry, workers, peasants, intellectuals, and even some "heroes of the greenwood" [5]—unwilling to become slaves of a fallen nation—organized themselves under various banners such as Self-Defense Armies, National Salvation Armies, and Volunteer Armies to rush to the anti-Japanese battlefield. Contemporaries collectively referred to them as the Northeast Anti-Japanese Volunteer Armies. The CPC Manchuria Provincial Committee and local Party organizations at all levels clearly realized that the Volunteer Armies rising up everywhere were an important force in resisting Japanese aggression. Consequently, they organized and dispatched over 500 members of the Communist Party and Communist Youth League, as well as members of Anti-Japanese Associations and the Anti-Imperialist Grand Alliance, to go deep into the various branches of the Volunteer Armies. They worked to unite lower-level officers and soldiers, establish Party organizations, and shoulder the historical mission of supporting, guiding, and directing the Northeast Volunteer Armies.
The Pillar of Strength: Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army Soldiers Shed Blood over the White Mountains and Black Waters
On September 22, 1931, in the "Resolution on the Incident of Imperialist Japanese Forcible Occupation of Manchuria," the CPC Central Committee explicitly put forward the slogan "arm the masses" and instructed local Party organizations at all levels to "turn these armed groups into guerrilla units and worker self-defense corps." In accordance with the spirit of the CPC Central Committee's instructions, while deeply promoting the anti-Japanese activities of the Volunteer Armies, the CPC Manchuria Provincial Committee and local Party organizations immediately decided to establish anti-Japanese guerrilla units led by the Party. Successive heads of the Provincial Military Commission, such as Yang Lin, Zhou Baozhong, Zhao Shangzhi, Yang Jingyu, and Zhang Shouqian, went to various regions in person to guide local Party organizations in creating anti-Japanese armed forces under Party leadership. A large number of outstanding Party members and cadres, including Feng Zhongyun, Tong Changrong, Li Yanlu, Cui Shiquan, Jin Ce, and Li Hongguang, went deep into rural and mountainous areas to connect with workers, peasants, and intellectuals, actively planning the creation of anti-Japanese guerrilla units led by the Party. By 1933, Communists had established over a dozen anti-Japanese guerrilla units in places such as Panshi, Hailong, Wangqing, Yanji, Hunchun, Helong, Antu, Mishan, Suining, Ning'an, Raohe, Zhuhe, Bayan, Hailun, and Tangyuan. Although these armed forces, with workers and peasants as their backbone, were small in number, poorly equipped, and lacked combat experience, they were loyal to the Party and possessed a tenacious will to fight. When the main force of the Volunteer Armies met with defeat in early 1933, the anti-Japanese armed forces led by the CPC rushed to the front line, single-handedly holding high the banner of resistance in the Northeast, and becoming the well-deserved pillar of strength in the Northeast Anti-Japanese War.
Around 1935, in order to unite all possible anti-Japanese forces and establish the broadest Northeast Anti-Japanese National United Front, and in accordance with the spirit of the 1933 "Manifesto of the Provisional Central Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic and the Revolutionary Military Commission of the Chinese People's Red Army" (the "January 17 Manifesto") and the "Letter from the CPC Central Committee to all levels of the Party in Manchuria and all Party Members—On the Situation in Manchuria and the Tasks of Our Party" (the "January 26 Instruction"), the various anti-Japanese guerrilla units were successively renamed the Northeast People's Revolutionary Army, the Anti-Japanese Allied Army, or the Anti-Japanese United Army. In 1936, the CPC Central Committee delegation to the Comintern issued the "Draft Resolution on the Establishment of the General Headquarters of the All-Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army" to all levels of the Party in the Northeast, instructing the various anti-Japanese armed forces to unify and reorganize the People's Revolutionary Army into the "Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army" (NAJUA). Thus, starting from early 1936, the People's Revolutionary Armies, United Armies, and Allied Armies led by the CPC were successively renamed the "Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army." Around the time of the July 7th Incident [6], a total of 11 corps were formed, reaching over 30,000 personnel at their peak, with their scope of activity expanding to over 70 counties. They became the torch that ignited the people's desire to recover their territory and expel the invaders during the period of Northeast occupation.
To annihilate the anti-Japanese armed forces led by the CPC, the Japanese-puppet authorities, in addition to constantly deploying heavy troops for repeated "comb-style" encirclement and suppression campaigns in the forests, also adopted so-called "root-reaching" policies. These included the implementation of the "Baojia collective responsibility system" [7], whereby the families and entire villages of anyone participating in anti-Manchukuo or anti-Japanese activities were held collectively liable; prohibiting the planting of tall crops within 50 meters of railways and highways; and the mandatory seizure of civilian weapons. Furthermore, the Japanese-puppet authorities designated areas where anti-Japanese forces were active as "bandit zones" and "semi-bandit zones," forcing the residents of these areas to move into "group hamlets" [8]. These were guarded day and night by Japanese and puppet police, and no one was allowed to leave at will. This was an attempt to completely sever the connection between the NAJUA and the masses, intending to starve, freeze, or trap the anti-Japanese forces to death in the deep mountains and old forests. Under the severe and cruel conditions of struggle and extremely difficult environments, the NAJUA ranks dwindled from a peak of over 30,000 to just over 1,000. A large number of outstanding NAJUA soldiers shed their blood across the white mountains and black waters. More than 30 high-ranking commanders at the level of Army Commander or Political Commissar—including Yang Jingyu, Zhao Shangzhi, Wei Zhengmin, Wang Detai, Chen Hanzhang, Xu Hengzhi, Chai Shisheng, Wang Yachen, Tong Changrong, Li Yanping, Chen Rongjiu, Xia Yunjie, Cao Yafan, Cao Guo'an, Wang Guangyu, He Zhongguo, Song Tieyan, Li Xuezhong, Hu Ren, and Hou Qigang—sacrificed their lives for the country. In addition, more than 80 cadres at the divisional level died in battle. There was also the heroine Zhao Yiman, the soul-stirring "Eight Women Jumping into the River," [9] and thousands of unnamed anti-Japanese martyrs. Countless NAJUA soldiers used their blood and lives to forge the NAJUA Spirit, which has become a brilliant page in the spiritual pedigree of Chinese Communists and is recorded in the annals of the great spirit of the War of Resistance.
Streams Flowing into the Sea: The NAJUA Spirit Merges into the Great Spirit of the War of Resistance
From the September 18th Incident in 1931 to the Japanese defeat and surrender in 1945, under the leadership of the CPC, the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army fought a life-and-death struggle against the Japanese invaders to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity. Under conditions where the enemy was strong and they were weak, with no external aid and extremely difficult living and fighting environments, they forged an immortal NAJUA Spirit through their firm conviction of infinite loyalty to the Party, the motherland, and the people; their national righteousness in braving national crisis; and their heroic spirit of fighting to the end. This spirit has become a spiritual asset inspiring the people of Northeast China to forge ahead. Under the guidance and pioneering role of the CPC, and alongside Northeast anti-Japanese heroes like Yang Jingyu, Zhao Shangzhi, Zhao Yiman, and the "Eight Women Jumping into the River," a multitude of heroic groups emerged during the full-scale War of Resistance, such as Zuo Quan, Peng Xuefeng, Tong Linge, Zhao Dengyu, Zhang Zizhong, Dai Anlan, as well as the "Five Heroes of Langya Mountain" of the Eighth Route Army, the "Liu Laozhuang Company" of the New Fourth Army, and the "Eight Hundred Heroes" of the Nationalist Army. As typical representatives of the Chinese nation's war against aggression, they charged into the front lines without hesitation. With the patriotic sentiment that "every man bears responsibility for the rise and fall of the nation," the national integrity of viewing death as a return home and preferring death to surrender, the heroic spirit of defying brute force and fighting to the end, and the indomitable and persistent belief in victory, they forged the great spirit of the War of Resistance, declaring to the whole world that the Chinese nation is unconquerable.
Thus, it is evident that the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army Spirit, nurtured in the early stages of the resistance in Northeast China, is both a stream feeding into the great spirit of the War of Resistance and a force that was continuously carried forward, enriched, and replenished throughout the historical process of the full-scale War of Resistance. At the same time, the history of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War demonstrates that justice will prevail, peace will prevail, and the people will prevail.
Today, eighty years after the victory of the War of Resistance, the NAJUA Spirit and the great spirit of the War of Resistance remain the driving force and spiritual wealth for the Chinese nation's progress. They also inspire future generations to forever inherit these spirits, overcome all hardships and obstacles, and strive for the realization of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.