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1937年7月7日日本军队在北平西南芦沟桥附近挑起军事冲突，揭开中国八年对日抗战序幕。1943年，中国独立对日抗战进入最艰苦阶段，为争取美国对中国抗战之支持和同情，蒋夫人宋美龄女士于同年2月18日至4月4日访美期间，先后至美国国会、纽约市政厅、纽约麦迪逊广场、威斯理大学、芝加哥体育馆、旧金山市政厅、洛山矶好莱坞等处发表7次演说。蒋夫人访美于各地掀起了一阵蒋夫人旋风。因为当时蒋夫人是第一位受邀请而到美国国会发表演说的东方女性，更是第一位在美国国会发表演说的中国人。
中外杂志第八十三卷，第三期，四月号杂志，对蒋夫人访美行程以及所掀起之旋风，有详细之介绍。但篇末所刊登之蒋夫人国会演说系临时获美国副总统兼参议院议长邀请而发表之临时演说，因此未备有正式讲稿。一般民众容易误以为此篇演讲就是蒋夫人于美国国会争取美国支持我对日抗战之演说。
其实不然。蒋夫人访美七篇演说中，最受瞩目者，系于美国众议院所发表之演说。而往后之六篇演说也是架构在众院所发表的那篇演说上。蒋夫人众院演说，主要为争取美国对中国对日抗战之支持与援助。全场演说二十余分钟，所获掌声无数，不仅把中国人民对日抗战的英勇事迹生动介绍给美国政府与人民，促使美国重新思考重欧轻亚之政策，也为日后争取美国对华援助奠下基础。
上述演说实系两篇不同之演说，经陈大使锡蕃指出，投书贵刊第八十三卷，第五期，五月号，陈大使另嘱笔者上网自美方资讯网站中调出原文，并予移译，以供读者参考。本人爰草成此文并送经陈大使过目。
蒋夫人于美国众议院之演说，对国际舆论与日后对中国争取援助上，亦影响深远，日后于美国各地进行的援华募捐活动不仅获得极大回响，更使美国国会决定废除当时已实施长达六十一年的「排华法案」，从而改善中美两国关系。
蒋夫人宋美龄女士一九四三年二月十八日于美国众议院演说全文与译文如下：
Mr. Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives of the United States:
At any time it would be a privilege for me to address Congress, more especially this present august body which will have so much to do in shaping the destiny of the world. In speaking to Congress I am literally speaking to the American people. The Seventy-seventh Congress, as their representatives, fulfilled the obligations and responsibilities of its trust by declaring war on the aggressors. That part of the duty of the people’s representatives was discharged in 1941. The task now confronting you is to help win the war and to create and uphold a lasting peace which will justify the sacrifices and sufferings of the victims of aggression.
议长、美国众议院诸位议员：
无论何时，余得向贵国国会致词，实属荣幸；尤在今日，余得向一庄严伟大之团体，对于世界命运之形成有绝大影响如贵院者致词，尤属特别荣幸。余向贵国国会演说，实际上系向美国人民演说。贵国第七十七届国会，以代表美国人民之资格，对侵略者宣战，已尽其人民所信托之义务与责任。此为人民代表之一部分职责，早已在一九四一年履行。诸君当前之要务，乃协助争取胜利，并创建与维护一种永久之和平，俾此次遭受侵略者之一切牺牲与痛苦，具有意义。
Before enlarging on this subject, I should like to tell you a little about my long and vividly interesting trip to your country from my own land which has bled and borne unflinchingly the burden of war for more than 5 1/2 years. I shall not dwell, however, upon the part China has played in our united effort to free mankind from brutality and violence. I shall try to convey to you, however imperfectly, the impressions gained during the trip.
在未就主题进行演说之前，愿将关于余此次行程略述一二。余自祖国来至贵邦，长途跋涉，观感深切，趣味浓厚。以言余之祖国，则流血牺牲，肩荷抗战之负担，不屈不挠，已逾五年有半。虽然，余并不拟申述中国对于共同努力，从残酷与暴行中解放人类所尽之贡献。余试将此行所得之印象，略向诸君陈述。
First of all, I want to assure you that the American people have every right to be proud of their fighting men in so many parts of the world. I am particularly thinking of those of your boys in the far-flung, out-of-the-way stations and areas where life is attended by dreary drabness—this because their duty is not one of spectacular performance and they are not buoyed up by excitement of battle. They are called upon, day after colorless day, to perform routine duties such as safeguarding defenses and preparing for possible enemy action. It has been said, and I find it true from personal experience, that it is easier to risk one’s life on the battlefield than it is to perform customary humble and humdrum duties which, however, are just as necessary to winning the war. Some of your troops are stationed in isolated spots quite out of reach of ordinary communications. Some of your boys have had to fly hundreds of hours over the sea from an improvised airfield in quests often disappointingly fruitless, of enemy submarines.
余首愿确告诸君，美国人民对于分布全球各地之美国战士实足以自豪。余尤念及驻扎远处偏僻地区，生活至感寂寥之贵国壮士。盖此辈任务，既不能有显赫之表现，亦无振作精神之战事，而系日复一日，仅奉命担负其例行任务，如守卫防御工事，并准备抵抗敌方可能之蠢动而已。有人曾谓，亲临阵地，出死入生，犹易于日复一日担任低微单调之工作，余之经验亦复证实此言。然而后一种工作，对于抗战之获胜，正与前一种同属必要。贵国若干部队，驻扎在遥远隔绝地点，非平常交通所能到达。贵国若干壮士，必须用临时赶筑之机场，飞行海面，经数百小时之久，以搜寻敌方之潜艇，往往一无所遇，废然而返。
They, and others, have to stand the monotony of waiting—just waiting. But, as I told them, true patriotism lies in possessing the morale and physical stamina to perform faithfully and conscientiously the daily tasks so that in the sum total the weakest link is the strongest.
贵国此辈健儿，以及其他壮士，均系作单调乏味之守候，日复一日之守候。但余曾告彼等，真正之爱国心乃在具有能忠诚执行日常任务之士气与体力，庶使在最后结果中最弱之一环，亦即为最强之一环。
Your soldiers have shown conclusively that they are able stoically to endure homesickness, the glaring dryness, and scorching heat of the Tropics, and keep themselves fit and in excellent fighting trim. They are amongst the unsung heroes of this war, and everything possible to lighten their tedium and buoy up their morale should be done. That sacred duty is yours. The American Army is better fed than any army in the world. This does not mean, however, that they can live indefinitely on canned food without having the effects tell on them. These admittedly are the minor hardships of war, especially when we pause to consider that in many parts of the world, starvation prevails. But peculiarly enough, oftentimes it is not the major problems of existence which irk a man’s soul; it is rather the pin pricks, especially those incidental to a life of deadly sameness, with tempers frayed out and nervous systems torn to shreds.
贵国士兵，已确实表现，能沉着坚毅忍受思乡之苦，忍受热带之干燥与酷热，
并能保持其准备随时作战之强健身体与精神。彼辈亦属此次战争中无名英雄之列。凡足减轻其烦闷，振奋其精神之一切可能措施均应一一采取。此项神圣责任，自在诸君。就美国军队之饮食而言，固较任何他国军队之饮食为优，但此非谓彼等可长此专恃罐头食物，而健康上不至感受任何影响也。以上所举，殆为战争中之轻微困苦；若一念及世界上许多地方尚有饥馑流行，则更觉上述困苦之为轻微。虽然，天下事亦有难言者。扰人心灵使人烦闷者，往往并非为生存之主要问题，而系琐细之刺激，尤其是在单调无聊生活中所受之琐细刺激，足以令人性情暴躁，心魂欲裂。
The second impression of my trip is that America is not only the cauldron of democracy, but the incubator of democratic principles. At some of the places I visited, I met the crews of your air bases. There I found first generation Germans, Italians, Frenchmen, Poles, Czechoslovakians, and other nationals. Some of them had accents so thick that, if such a thing were possible, one could not cut them with a butter knife. But there they were—all Americans, all devoted to the same ideals, all working for the same cause and united by the same high purpose. No suspicion or rivalry existed between them. This increased my belief and faith that devotion to common principles eliminates differences in race, and that identity of ideals is the strongest possible solvent of racial dissimilarities.
余在此次行程中所获之第二印象，即美国不仅为民主制度之镕炉，而且为民主主义之胚胎。余参观各地时，曾于数处晤见贵国空军基地飞行服务人员，在此辈人员中余即发现有德、意、法、波、捷及其他国籍人民迁往美国之第一代移民。其中有的乡音之重，殊难言喻。然而彼辈固共同远征在外，悉数为美国人，悉数忠心于共同之理想，悉数为同一目的而奋斗，悉数为同一崇高宗旨而精诚团结，既不彼此猜疑，亦不互相争竞。此一事实，益加强余向所抱持之信念与信仰；即对于共同原则之忠心，可以泯灭种族之差异，而且各种理想之相同，乃是对于种族分歧最强之溶解剂。
I have reached your country, therefore, with no misgivings, but with my belief that the American people are building and carrying out a true pattern of the Nation conceived by your forebears, strengthened and confirmed. You, as representatives of the American people, have before you the glorious opportunity of carrying on the pioneer work of your ancestors, beyond the frontiers of physical and geographical limitations. Their brawn and thews braved undauntedly almost unbelievable hardships to open up a new continent. The modern world lauds them for their vigor and intensity of purpose, and for their accomplishment. Your have today before you the immeasurably greater opportunity to implement these same ideals and to help bring about the liberation of man’s spirit in every part of the world. In order to accomplish this purpose, we of the United Nations must now so prosecute the war that victory will be ours decisively and with all good speed.
因是之故，余此次抵达贵国，不特衷心毫无惴虑，而且具有一种信心，即美国人民正在建立与实施一种确系其祖先所怀抱之立国典型。此种信心，益见加强而证实。诸君为美国人民之代表，目前有一光荣机会，使汝祖先之开国工作，发扬光大，超越物体与地理限制之疆界。诸君之祖先曾以大无畏之精神，冒不可思议之困难，筚路褴褛以开发新大陆。现代人士，无不赞美其精力过人，宗旨坚定，以及成功卓着。诸君今日，当前正有一更无限伟大之机会，可以继续发挥汝祖先所怀抱之理想，并协助完成解放全球各地人类之精神。为求完成此项目的，身为联合国之一员，必须尽力加强作战，俾联合国早日获得最后之胜利。
Sun-tse, the well-known Chinese strategist said, “In order to win, know thyself and thy enemy.” We have also the saying: “It takes little effort to watch the other fellow carry the load.”
中国着名兵家孙子有言，“知彼知己，胜乃不殆”。吾人另有一谚语云：“看人挑担不吃力。”
In spite of these teachings from a wise old past, which are shared by every nation, there has been a tendency to belittle the strength of our opponents.
此等名言，来自明哲久远之古代，实乃每一民族所共有，然而仍有一种轻视吾敌人力量之趋势。
When Japan thrust total war on China in 1937 military experts of every nation did not give China even a ghost of a chance. But when Japan failed to bring China cringing to her knees as she vaunted, the world took solace in this phenomenon by declaring that they had overestimated Japan’s military might.
当一九三七年日本军阀发动其全面对华战争时，各国军事专家，咸认中国无一线获胜之希望。但日本并不能如其所夸，迫使中国屈膝；于是举世人士，对此现象，深感慰藉，并谓当初对于日本武力，估计过高。
Nevertheless, when the greedy flames of war inexorably spread in the Pacific following the perfidious attack on Pearl Harbor, Malaya, and lands in and around the China Sea, and one after another of these places fell, the pendulum swung to the other extreme. Doubts and fears lifted their ugly heads and the world began to think that the Japanese were Nietzschean supermen, superior in intellect and physical prowess, a belief which the Gobineaus and the Houston Chamberlains and their apt pupils, the Nazi racists, had propounded about the Nordics.
虽然，自日本对于珍珠港（Pearl Harbor）、马来亚（Malaya），以及南洋一带加以背信无耻之袭击后，战争之贪狂火焰，弥漫太平洋上，而各该地域，相继失守，一时观感，遂又趋向另一极端。于是怀疑忧惧之狰狞面目乃大暴露。世界人士由此遂视日本人为尼采（Nietzchean）所称之超人，在智力上与体力上均超越他国人民。其实此项信念，乃古皮诺（Gobineaus）派豪斯敦、张伯伦（Houston Chamberlains）派，以及其得意门徒纳粹种族主义派，对于北欧人（Nordics）所发挥者。
Again, now the prevailing opinion seems to consider the defeat of the Japanese as of relative unimportance and that Hitler is our first concern. This is not borne out by actual facts, nor is it to the interests of the United Nations as a whole to allow Japan to continue not only as a vital potential threat but as a waiting sword of Damocles, ready to descend at a moment’s notice.
不宁惟是，就现时流行之意见而言，则又似认为击败日本，为目前比较次要之事，而吾人首应对付者，则为希特勒。但事实证明，并不如此。且即为联合国整体利益着想，吾人亦不宜继续纵容日本使其不独为一主要之潜伏威胁，且为德玛克利斯（Damocles）头上之悬剑，随时可以坠落。
Let us not forget that Japan in her occupied areas today has greater resources at her command than Germany.
吾人慎勿忘日本今日在其占领区内所掌握之资源，较诸德国所掌握者更为丰富。
Let us not forget that the longer Japan is left in undisputed possession of these resources, the stronger she must become. Each passing day takes more toll in lives of both Americans and Chinese.
吾人慎勿忘如果听任日本占有此种资源而不争抗，则为时愈久，其力量亦必愈大。多迁延一日，即多牺牲若干美国人与中国人之生命。
Let us not forget that the Japanese are an intransigent people.
吾人慎勿忘日本乃一顽强之民族。
Let us not forget that during the first 4 1/2 years of total aggression China has borne Japan’s sadistic fury unaided and alone.
吾人慎勿忘在全面侵略最初之四年半中，中国孤独无援，抵抗日本军阀之淫虐狂暴。
The victories won by the United Sates Navy at Midway and the Coral Sea are doubtless steps in the right direction—they are merely steps in the right direction—for the magnificent fight that was waged at Guadalcanal during the past 6 months attests to the fact that the defeat of the forces of evil though long and arduous will finally come to pass. For have we not on the side of righteousness and justice staunch allies in Great Britain, Russia, and other brave and indomitable peoples? Meanwhile the peril of the Japanese juggernaut remains. Japanese military might must be decimated as a fighting force before its threat to civilization is removed.
美国海军在中途岛（Midway）及珊瑚海（Coral Sea）所获得之胜利，其方向为正确，显然无疑，惟亦仅为向正确方向之前进步骤而已。盖过去六个月在瓜达康纳尔（Guadalcanal）之英勇作战，已证明一项事实，即凶恶势力之溃败，虽尚需时而费力，最后必将到来。吾人站在正义与公道方面岂无英、苏与其他英勇不屈之民族为吾人忠实之盟邦乎？惟是日本侵略恶魔继续为祸之可能，依然存在。日本之武力，必须予以彻底摧毁，使其不复能作战，始可解除日本对于文明之威胁。
When the Seventy-seventh Congress declared war against Japan, Germany, and Italy, Congress for the moment had done its work. It now remains for you, the present Representatives of the American people, to point the way to win the war, to help construct a world in which all peoples may henceforth live in harmony and peace.
贵国第七十七届国会，向日、德、义三国宣战。就其在当时而言，贵国国会确已完成其工作。就今日而论，则有待于诸君。诸君为贵国人民之代表，当有以指示取得胜利之途径，并协助建立一新世界，使一切民族此后得相处于融洽与和平之中。
May I not hope that it is the resolve of Congress to devote itself to the creation of the post-war world? To dedicate itself to the preparation for the brighter future that a stricken world so eagerly awaits?
余岂可不希望，美国国会之决心，乃在尽力于创立战后新世界，乃在尽力于准备水深火热之世界所殷切期待之较光明前途乎？
We of this generation who are privileged to help make a better world for ourselves and for posterity should remember that, while we must not be visionary, we must have vision so that peace should not be punitive in spirit and should not be provincial or nationalistic or even continental in concept, but universal in scope and humanitarian in action, for modern science has so annihilated distance that what affects one people must of necessity affect all other peoples.
吾人生于今世，有为吾人自身以及子子孙孙建立一较美满世界之光荣机会。所应牢记不忘者，即一方面固不可抱持过高理想，另一方面却亦必须具有相当理想，使未来之和平在精神上不至成为专对战败者之惩罚，在概念上不至以一区域或一国家甚或一大陆为对象，而以全世界为范围，而其行动亦必须合乎人道主义。盖现代科学，已将距离缩短至如此程度，以致凡影响一民族之事物，势必同时影响其他一切民族。
The term “hands and feet” is often used in China to signify the relationship between brothers. Since international interdependence is now so universally recognized, can we not also say that all nations should become members of one corporate body?
“手足”一词，在中国用以表示兄弟间之关系。国际间之相互依赖，今既已如此普遍承认，吾人岂不能亦谓一切国家应成为一集合体之分子乎？
The 160 years of traditional friendship between our two great peoples, China and America, which has never been marred by misunderstandings, is unsurpassed in the annals of the world.
中、美两大民族间一百六十年来之传统友谊，从未染有误会之污痕，此在世界历史中，诚无出其右者。
I can also assure you that China is eager and ready to cooperate with you and other peoples to lay a true and lasting foundation for a sane and progressive world society which would make it impossible for any arrogant or predatory neighbor to plunge future generations into another orgy of blood. In the past China has not computed the cost to her manpower in her fight against aggression, although she well realized that manpower is the real wealth of a nation and it takes generations to grow it. She has been soberly conscious of her responsibilities and has not concerned herself with privileges and gains which she might have obtained through compromise of principles. Nor will she demean herself and all she holds dear to the practice of the market place.
余亦能确告诸君，吾人渴望并准备与诸君及其他民族合作，共同奠定一种真实与持久之基础，以建设一合理而进步之世界社会，使任何恣肆骄狂或劫掠成性之邻国，不复能使后世之人，再遭流血之惨剧。中国虽明知人力一项，乃一国之真正富源，并需累代之久始能成长，然中国在其反侵略战争中，从未计及其在人力方面所受之损失。中国对于其本身所负之各种责任，深切明了；对于如何而可在原则方面妥协让步以获得种种权益，则从未顾及。中国对于其本身，对于其所珍爱尊重之一切，亦决不稍降品格，而循商场中市侩之行径。
We in China, like you, want a better world, not for ourselves alone, but for all mankind, and we must have it. It is not enough, however, to proclaim our ideals or even to be convinced that we have them. In order to preserve, uphold, and maintain them, there are times when we should throw all we cherish into our effort to fulfill these ideals even at the risk of failure.
我中国国民，正与诸君相同，不仅为吾人本身，且更为人类全体，希望有一较佳之世界；实则必须有此较佳之世界。然仅宣布吾人之理想，甚或确信吾人具有此种理想，尚嫌不足。盖欲保存、支撑，并维持此等理想，有时必须不惜牺牲一切，甚至甘冒失败之危险，以努力促其实现。
The teachings drawn from our late leader, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, have given our people the fortitude to carry on. From 5 1/2 years of experience we in China are convinced that it is the better part of wisdom not to accept failure ignominiously, but to risk it gloriously. We shall have faith that, at the writing of peace, American and our other gallant allies will not be obtunded by the mirage of contingent reasons of expediency.
吾人已故领袖孙逸仙博士所示之训范，已给予吾国人民奋斗前进之毅力。我中国人民根据五年又半之经验，确信光明正大之甘冒失败，较诸卑鄙可耻之接受失败，更为明智。吾人将有一项信念，即在订立和议之时，美国以及其他英勇之盟友，将不致为一时种种权宜理由所迷惑。
Man’s mettle is tested both in adversity and in success. Twice is this true of the soul of a nation.
个人之品德，于困厄中验之，亦于成功中验之。以言一国之精神，倍加真确
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