Brother Rongxi: Since receiving your letter, I have read it many times. Today, upon reading it again, I am even more moved. There is not a single word in your letter that I disagree with. I have already decided on a method of study, though I need not mention it for now; what matters is that I will certainly put your advice into practice. Your earnest and diligent spirit is truly admirable. You are currently in an excellent environment, allowing you to engage in meticulous observation and profound reflection. I have heard that you have left school to work in a factory, where you can gain firsthand insight into conditions in Western factories, and perhaps experience Tolstoy’s notion that “life gained through labor is true happiness.” I myself am very eager to work. In Shanghai, Mr. Li Shengxie has encouraged me to join a factory, which has greatly appealed to me. Lately, I have come to feel that a life devoted solely to intellectual pursuits is an extremely arduous one. I believe I should spend some time engaging exclusively in manual labor. Mr. Li Shengxie, then a normal school student, began working as a blacksmith at the Jiangnan Shipyard and, within a month or two, had mastered every aspect of the job. He gradually progressed from receiving no wages to earning eleven yuan per month. He is currently residing at No. 11 Yuyangli in the French Concession of Shanghai, assisting Mr. Chen Zhongfu and others in organizing a machinery workers’ union. You may correspond with him. Qi Min is at the Zhou Nan Women’s School in Tai’anli, while Dunyuan works for the Tongsu Daily on Liwen Street. Educational corruption in Xiangtan has reached an extreme level. Those away from home have formed the “Xiangtan Education Promotion Association” to try to improve the situation, but so far their efforts have yielded little result. The First Normal School Alumni Association in Xiangtan also plans to take action soon. Your letter has not yet been forwarded; I will send it shortly. All manuscripts you have sent along the way have been published in the Hunan Daily, so there is no need to forward them again. I have already replied to this letter once before; here I add a few recent thoughts. Yours sincerely, Ze Dong, Second Brother, November 26, 1920.


oO Materials of the New People’s Study Society, People’s Publishing House, 1980.9


• Collection of Correspondence Among Members of the New People’s Study Society, Volume One, 1920
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