To Wen Yunchang
(November 27, 1937)

Elder Brother Yunchang,¹

Mo Liben² arrived and gave me your letter. Today I have also received your detailed letter of November 16, which has given me great pleasure and comfort. I am
deeply saddened by the passing away of my eighth uncle and aunt, yet it is wonderful that you and your wife are alive and healthy. Hard and difficult living conditions are not confined to one family or one individual. The majority of the people
of the whole country are in the same situation. Joining the masses in their struggle
and driving out the Japanese imperialists are the only paths to survival. Your desire to come and work is good. The only thing is that we have only clothes to wear
and food to eat here, and the treatment for a commander-in-chief at the top and a
cook at the bottom are all the same. As our Party works only for the state, the
nation, and the toiling popular masses, sacrificing individual self-interest, we are
all equal and have no salaries. If you have heavy burdens at home and need to find
a big or small job to earn some income to help make ends meet, then it is not a
good idea to come here. It is a long way to travel, and I cannot send any money as
travel expenses. The plan of running a military school in Hunan is very good, but
it is also hard to carry out for the time being. Although in my heart I would like to
assist you, it is difficult to do in reality. In the past, the state sent Zhou Runfang 20
yuan as travel expenses. Because she is the widow of Martyr Zetan, who died³
(Zetan was killed in Jiangxi the year before last), the state gave the money, not
because of me personally. I hope that you can understand it. I am making some
efforts on behalf of society as a whole, including the members of my mother's
family, for whom I have great respect, and all the poor people in my native place.
I miss all the brothers and their children of my mother's family and all the poor
people from my native place very much. But I can only help you all in this way, as
you have probably understood already.
Even so, I want to exchange letters frequently with you and other cousins and
their children, and I am glad even to get a few lines and words from you.
Are you informed about the situation in Shaoshan or not? If you are, please let
my relatives and friends in the countryside know that if they want to write me I
would like very much to hear from them. But please tell them that they should not
come here for jobs because there are no salaries here.
Is Mr. Liu Linsheng⁴ still alive and healthy? Please convey my regards to him
in your letters.
Right now, Japanese imperialism is launching massive offensives, and we are
very busy with our work, but we are all very happy and healthy. My health is
somewhat better now than it was two years ago. Please send my greetings to the
various brothers, sisters-in-law, and their children, and tell them that the victories
of the Eighth Route Army are the victories of them all, so as to comfort them in the
face of hardships and difficulties.
May my brother and sister-in-law enjoy good health!

Mao Zedong

This letter was first published in Mao Zedong shuxin xuanji, pp. 114-16. It also appears in
Mao Zedong wenji, Vol. 2, pp. 72-73, and we have taken it from that source.
1. Wen Yunchang (1884-1961), a native of Xiangxiang xian in Hunan, was Mao's first
cousin.
2. Mo Liben, also known as Fang Ke (b. 1918) was a young Hunanese who had left
Changsha to come to Yan'an.
3. Mao's younger brother, Mao Zetan, was left behind in Jiangxi at the time of the Long
March and was killed there.

4. Liu Linsheng (1865-1949) was a cousin of Mao and of Wen Yunchang.