---
title: 中日基本條約簽訂一週年來矣！ (The Sino-Japanese Basic Treaty's first anniversary has come!), four-panel leaflet for Hankou
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/hankou-basic-treaty-anniversary-leaflet-1941/
description: A leaflet in Chinese explains the 'four principles' of the 1940 Japan-China-Manchukuo Basic Treaty in four cartoon panels, each with a slogan pair…
section: Collection
---

[Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)

[![中日基本條約簽訂一週年來矣！ (The Sino-Japanese Basic Treaty's first anniversary has come!), four-panel leaflet for Hankou](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/hankou-basic-treaty-anniversary-leaflet-1941.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/hankou-basic-treaty-anniversary-leaflet-1941.jpg)

# 中日基本條約簽訂一週年來矣！ (The Sino-Japanese Basic Treaty's first anniversary has come!), four-panel leaflet for Hankou

A leaflet in Chinese explains the 'four principles' of the 1940 Japan-China-Manchukuo Basic Treaty in four cartoon panels, each with a slogan pair ('political independence, mutual aid and respect'; 'military alliance, joint defence against communism'; 'economic cooperation, mutual benefit and prosperity'; 'cultural exchange'). Virtue slogans stand in for terms, and in the military panel two wolves labelled 'ABCD alliance' and 'communism' menace three helmeted figures marked China, Japan and Manchukuo.

- **Date:** November 1941
- **Period:** [Second World War](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#era=wwii)
- **Made by:** Imperial Japanese Army (Army Ministry file copy, per the archive record); the leaflet itself names no issuer
- **Region:** [East Asia](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#region=east-asia)
- **Country:** [Empire of Japan](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#country=empire-of-japan)
- **Medium:** [Leaflet](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#medium=leaflet)
- **Issuer type:** [Military](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#actor=military)
- **Regime:** [Showa Japan](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#regime=showa-japan)
- **Leader:** [Hideki Tojo](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#leader=hideki-tojo)
- **Audience:** [Enemy civilians](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#audience=enemy-civilians)
- **Purpose:** [Persuade or win support](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#purpose=persuade-support)
- **Themes:** [War and the military](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=war-military), [Empire and colonialism](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=empire-colonialism)
- **Event:** [Second Sino Japanese War](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#event=second-sino-japanese-war)
- **Techniques:** [Glittering generalities](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/glittering-generalities/) [Fear appeal](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/fear-appeal/)
- **Regime:** [Empire of Japan, 1937 to 1945](https://propagandaarchive.org/regimes/showa-japan/)
- **Leader:** [Hideki Tōjō](https://propagandaarchive.org/regimes/showa-japan/#hideki-tojo)
- **Source:** Unidentified Source blurred: contractors, cutouts, buried disclosure
- **Source:** [Wikimedia Commons (from JACAR, National Institute for Defense Studies, Japan)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Propaganda_leaflet_of_the_first_anniversary_of_Sino-Japanese_Basic_Treaty.jpg), retrieved September 29, 2026
- **Rights:** Public domain (Japanese government work of 1941; 50-year term expired before 1996; per Commons) Army Ministry of Japan, 1941; JACAR Ref. C04123483000 (National Institute for Defense Studies), via Wikimedia Commons

## Text on the object

Original (Chinese (traditional characters)) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
[page number, top left] 0860
[stamp or mark, top right] [illegible]

[headline, large, right] 中日基本條約簽訂一週年來矣！
現在為中日滿大同團結之時機！

[body, right] 回憶一年前卽民國二十九年十一月三十日上午十時二十五分，在南京簽訂中日基本條約，同時發表中日滿共同宣言，中日滿協力一致謀東亞之全面和平，進而確立世界和平，此基本條約及共同宣言之精神要不外政治獨立，軍事同盟，經濟合作，文化溝通四原則，所謂四原則者爲何？

[boxed note] 凡持此赤色傳單者十一月三十日當日可以免費入漢口市內各戲場（但電戲院不在此例）

[panel 1] 政治獨立 互助互尊
[map/figure labels] 中國 滿洲 日本 [flag on China's figure] 和平反共建國
日本：「我們無論做何事應該和衷共濟。」
中國：「大家互相承認政治獨立，不相侵略，而且互相尊重人格吧！」
滿洲：「是的，大家謹慎，不要說對方的壞話，及做傷害對方人格的言動，大家團結前進吧！」

[panel 2] 軍事同盟 共同防共
[labels] 滿洲 日本 中國 [on the wolves] ABCD同盟 共產主義 [on the ground] 軍事同盟
日本：「中日滿三國締結軍事同盟，以抵禦東亞之外敵吧！」
滿洲：「東亞之敵人是共產主義和歐美侵略主義，三國同盟以防禦此二敵人吧！」
中國：「我們爲要實現孫總理之大亞細亞主義，三國軍事同盟絕對必要。」

[panel 3] 經濟合作 互惠共榮
[labels] 中國 日本 滿洲 [on the crate] 経済合作
中國：「東亞之埋藏資源，由中日滿三國協力合作開發吧！」
日本：「自己有的東[illegible]不賣，或不[illegible]買你的[illegible]東西[illegible]東亞的物資互相[illegible]交換，三國協力使東亞繁榮吧！」
滿洲：「以便實現東亞之共存共榮吧！」

[panel 4] 文化溝通 顯揚文藝
[labels] 中國 日本 滿洲 [on the boats and sails] 文化 [on the river] 溝通
滿洲：「文化問題亦由中日滿三國互相理解，互相指導，更加發揚文化吧！」
中國：「三國互相交流固有的文化，或交換研究的東西，以樹立不亞于西洋之燦爛東亞文化吧！」
日本：「互流交通文化之船，使開美麗之大東亞文化之花。」
```

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

```
[page number] 0860
[stamp or mark] [illegible]

[headline] The first anniversary of the signing of the Sino-Japanese Basic Treaty has come!
Now is the time for the great unity of China, Japan and Manchukuo!

[body] Recall that a year ago, on 30 November of the 29th year of the Republic, at 10:25 in the morning, the Sino-Japanese Basic Treaty was signed at Nanjing and the China-Japan-Manchukuo Joint Declaration was issued at the same time: China, Japan and Manchukuo would cooperate as one to seek the complete peace of East Asia and go on to establish world peace. The spirit of this Basic Treaty and Joint Declaration comes down to four principles: political independence, military alliance, economic cooperation and cultural exchange. What are these four principles?

[boxed note] Whoever holds this red leaflet may enter the theatres in Hankou city free of charge on 30 November (but cinemas are not included).

[panel 1] Political independence: mutual aid, mutual respect
[labels] China, Manchukuo, Japan; [flag] Peace, anti-communism, nation-building
Japan: "Whatever we do, we should pull together in harmony."
China: "Let us all recognise each other's political independence, not invade one another, and respect each other's dignity!"
Manchukuo: "Yes, let us all be careful not to speak ill of the other party or to act in ways that harm the other's dignity, and advance in unity!"

[panel 2] Military alliance: joint defence against communism
[labels] Manchukuo, Japan, China; [wolves] ABCD alliance, communism; [ground] military alliance
Japan: "Let China, Japan and Manchukuo conclude a military alliance to resist the external enemies of East Asia!"
Manchukuo: "East Asia's enemies are communism and European-American aggressionism; let the three-nation alliance defend against these two enemies!"
China: "To realise Premier Sun's Greater Asianism, a three-nation military alliance is absolutely necessary."

[panel 3] Economic cooperation: mutual benefit, common prosperity
[labels] China, Japan, Manchukuo; [crate] economic cooperation
China: "Let China, Japan and Manchukuo cooperate to develop East Asia's buried resources!"
Japan: "[partly illegible: what one has, not to be sold, or not ... buy your ... goods ... East Asia's materials ... exchange with one another;] let the three countries cooperate to make East Asia prosper!"
Manchukuo: "So as to realise the coexistence and co-prosperity of East Asia!"

[panel 4] Cultural exchange: promoting literature and art
[labels] China, Japan, Manchukuo; [boats and sails] culture; [river] communication
Manchukuo: "On cultural questions too, let China, Japan and Manchukuo understand and guide one another and promote culture even more!"
China: "Let the three countries exchange their inherent cultures or swap what they study, to build a brilliant East Asian culture no less than the West's!"
Japan: "Boats of culture flowing to and fro, to open beautiful flowers of the culture of Greater East Asia."
```

Read from a 960-px reproduction of a photocopy-quality page. The Japan speech in panel 3 is printed in a column layout that could not be reliably re-ordered at this size, so its middle is marked [illegible] rather than guessed. The label 経済合作 on the crate uses Japanese character forms. The top-right mark is not legible.

[← 'Kiitos tov. Stalinille onnellisesta lapsuudesta!' (Thanks to Comrade Stalin for a happy childhood): banner over a hut door, Vidlitsa](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/kiitos-tov-stalinille-vidlitsa-1941/) [Belajarlah! Pakailah! Bahasa Nippon! (Learn! Use! The Japanese Language!) →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/belajarlah-pakailah-bahasa-nippon-1942/)

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