To Ai Siqi
(January 12, 1938, at night)

Comrade Siqi:

I do not have the Complete Works of Lu Xun. I do have several individual works,
including his Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk,¹ but I can't find it anywhere.
I am just starting to study military questions, but for the time being I cannot
write an article in this domain.
It would be somewhat better [for me] to study philosophical works a while
longer before writing anything, and there would seem to be no immediate urgency.
Liang Shuming has come here. His Theory of the Rural Movement² contains a
number of strange ideas. One could look him up and talk with him.
When you are free come over for a chat, but please come in the evening, any
time except Monday or Friday.

Best wishes!

Mao Zedong

Our source for this letter is Mao Zedong shuxin xuanji, pp. 118-19, where it is reproduced
from the manuscript conserved in the archives.
1. Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk was a slim volume containing ten essays written by
Lu Xun in 1926.
2. The correct title of this work is Theory of Rural Reconstruction. Liang Huanting
(1893-1988), commonly known by his zi, Shuming, was a native of Guangxi. In the early
1930s, he undertook to promote rural reform based on Confucian principles in Shandong.