To Lin Zhonghe¹
(November 5, 1939)

To my elder brother and senior fellow student Roxu:

I seemed to be seeing my old friend again when I received and read your wonderful letter. I did not dare to procrastinate, because your first letter failed to reach me.
Here enclosed please find a hundred yuan, merely a supplement to your salary.
This is a very small sum, which serves only as a token of my regard. I sincerely
hope you will keep up your efforts in imparting your knowledge to the young and
training people for the War of Resistance. The south sky is within sight, and I will
crane my neck to look in that direction. With respect and best wishes for success in
your studies.

Respectfully,

Your younger brother, Mao Zedong

Inscription for Liu Xian
(November 1939)

I know very little about the methods of making woodcuts, but I like to look at
them. It has not been long since Comrade Liu Xian came to the border region, but
he has already produced many works. I hope he will continue his efforts and strive
to create a new art of the Chinese nation.

Our source for this letter is Mao Zedong shuxin xuanji, p. 159, where it is printed from the
manuscript.
1. Lin Zhonghe, zi Roxu, was a native of Ningxiang, Hunan Province. He had been a
classmate of Mao Zedong's at the Hunan First Normal School.
Our source for this inscription is the index volume to Mao Zedong ji. Bujuan, p. 149.