Inscription for Chen Shuliang’s Sketchbook *Sketches of the Liberated Areas*[1]

(May 1941)

Sketches of the Westward Journey

Villages in mist for five li, rapids veiled in haze,
Easy to gaze upon the hills, yet hard their shapes to trace.
Had I known they’d never suit the fashionable eye,
I’d have bought more rouge and simply painted peonies nearby.

Mao Zedong

[1] Chen Shuliang (1901–1991), originally from Shangchen Village in Huangyan (now part of Luqiao District), was a renowned contemporary calligrapher, painter, and artist. In the autumn of 1938, leaving his wife and children, he led young students to Yan’an, the sacred land of the revolution, where he devoted eight years to art education at the Lu Xun Academy of Art. During this period, his sketchbook *Sketches of the Liberated Areas*, created with the content of revolutionary struggle and life as its subject matter, received praise from Mao Zedong. Mao inscribed the sketchbook with the title “Sketches of the Westward Journey” and added a dedication, transcribing a quatrain by the Song-dynasty painter Li Tang inscribed on a painting: “Villages in mist for five li, rapids veiled in haze, / Easy to gaze upon the hills, yet hard their shapes to trace. / Had I known they’d never suit the fashionable eye, / I’d have bought more rouge and simply painted peonies nearby.” He presented this to Chen Shuliang.

Inscription for Chen Shuliang’s Sketchbook *Sketches of the Liberated Areas*

West River Rolls On

Mao Zedong’s inscription for Chen Shuliang’s sketchbook *Sketches of the Liberated Areas*.