A Congratulatory Letter for Comrade Xu Teli’s[1] Sixtieth Birthday

(January 30, 1937)

Comrade Xu:

You were my teacher twenty years ago;[2] you are still my teacher now; you will certainly continue to be my teacher in the future. When the revolution failed, many Communists left the Party, and some even went over to the enemy, yet you joined the Communist Party in the autumn of 1927, and with an attitude of utmost activism. From that time to the present, throughout the long and arduous struggle, you have been more active than many younger and middle-aged Party members, more undaunted by difficulties, and more modest in learning new things. What is “old age,” what are “declining physical and mental powers,” what are “difficulties and obstacles”—before you, they all surrender. Yet before some people, do they not serve as excuses for timidity and inaction? You understand a great deal but always feel inadequate, whereas some people, with only “half a pail of water,” insist on “making a great splash.” What you think in your heart is what you say with your mouth and do with your hands, whereas in some people, a certain corner of the heart harbors something unclean. You are always with the masses at all times, whereas some people seem to take pleasure in standing aloof from them. You everywhere show yourself to be a model of obedience to Party and revolutionary discipline, whereas some people seem to regard discipline as something that only fetters others, not themselves. You put revolution first, work first, and others first, whereas some people put showing off first, rest first, and themselves first. You always choose difficult tasks and never shirk responsibility, whereas some people are always ready to choose easy work and dodge responsibility when it falls upon them. In all these respects, I admire you and am willing to continue learning from you, and I also hope that all comrades in the Party will learn from you. On the occasion of your sixtieth birthday, I am writing this letter to congratulate you, wishing you good health, wishing you long life, and wishing you to become a model for all revolutionary Party members and the entire people.

With revolutionary salutations!

Mao Zedong

January 30, 1937, in Yan’an

Comrade Mao Zedong.

You were my teacher two years ago, and you still live in my courtyard. I feared you might arrive late, so I called you teacher. When veteran cadres came, many women comrades asked about you, my teacher, and some older women comrades went over to others. In the autumn of 1929, you joined the Communist Party and attained a high level of ideological and revolutionary theoretical understanding. You are even younger than many young and middle-aged Party members. You remain unconstrained by petty details and are still highly modest in learning new things. What? Are you still a progressive element? Capable? What difficulties? No obstacle—before you,

those of middling families do not eat grain themselves. You are a revolutionary, putting work first and others first. Both wives are revolutionaries who have been abroad, putting rest first and themselves first. You always choose modest tasks and never shirk responsibility, whereas some people, whatever their character, just go along with it and dodge when danger comes. Now that all these dangers have been eliminated, I admire you and am willing to continue learning from you all, and I also wish to write to veteran comrades. On the occasion of your sixtieth birthday,

I am writing this letter to congratulate you, wishing you health in advance, wishing you a long future, and wishing you to become a model for the Party members of 1929 and the entire people. With revolutionary salutations!

Mao Zedong

January 27, 1933

Photograph

Mao Zedong and his teacher from his youth, Xu Teli, in Bao’an.

“Mao Zedong and Xu Teli” (Chinese painting)

“Teacher and Student” (Chinese painting)