Inscription for Wang Guanlan[1]

(December 16, 1941)

Since it has come, accept it with calm. Do not be at all anxious yourself; let your body slowly build up resistance and fight against it until you finally overcome it. This is the method for dealing with chronic illnesses. Even if it is an acute illness, you can only leave it to the doctors to treat, and there is no point in getting anxious yourself, because anxiety cannot cure anything. In the face of illness, you must have a strong will to fight, but you must not be anxious. This is my attitude toward illness. I write it down for Comrade Wang Guanlan’s reference.

Mao Zedong

December 16

[1] Wang Guanlan (1906–1982), native of Linhai, Zhejiang Province; original name Jin Shui, courtesy name Kehong. He joined the Communist Party of China in 1925. He served as editor-in-chief of *Red China* and vice director of the Land Department of the Central Workers’ and Peasants’ Democratic Government. Later, he served as director of the Agriculture Commission of the Central Committee of the CPC, deputy secretary of the Party Committee and concurrently head of the Organization Department of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, and head of the United Front Work Committee of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, among other posts.