It is a well-known fact that Chiang Kai-shek is steeped in the Chinese classics.
One wonders, therefore, whether this famous quote from the Three Kingdoms inspired the famous quote he made comparing the Japanese and the Communists—
“A raging cauldron is best cooled by removing the fuel. Lancing a pustule, though painful, is preferable to harbouring the infection.”
– Dong Zhou (imperial inspector of Xiliang and general of the Forward army), chapter 3, p. 24, Moss Roberts.
The famous quote of Chiang Kai-shek is:
“The Japanese are a disease of the skin; the Communists are a disease of the heart.”
（日本是皮肤病，共产党是心脏病）
This metaphor explains part of his strategic priorities during the 1930s and early 1940s against the Japanese invasion.
Chiang believed that while Japan’s invasion of China was an external and urgent threat (like a skin disease), the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) posed a deeper, more existential internal threat (like heart disease) to him and China.
This rationale influenced his decision to sometimes delay full resistance against Japan in order to deal with the Communists.
This policy changed after the Xian Incident. After the infamous kidnapping of Chiang by the Young Marshal, he (reluctantly)
agreed with the CCP to fight the Japanese together.
Lwh, Sun 3 Aug 2025