Speech at the "Date Garden Banquet"[1]

(September 1942)

Your Excellencies have arrived; I am most grateful. Today we hold a banquet in the Date Garden, and there must be something we seek.

As the saying goes, the mouth that eats grows short; take one bite from another, and you must repay a peck. We accept this loss for once, but none may smear lime upon their mouths. To run the Party newspaper well, every comrade within the Party bears responsibility—a duty from which none can shrink. I believe all you experts and scholars will surely be glad to take charge of the fourth page, will not decline the task as a matter of honour, will respond to every request, will devote your full strength to it, drawing upon inexhaustible resources and putting them to endless use.

Old Ke,[2] you lead a theatrical troupe, travelling far from home all year round, toiling in distant lands—you have worked hard. Drink up! This is a toast to your labours!

[1] In late September 1942, in order to run the supplement of *Liberation Daily* well, Mao Zedong specially invited over ten scholars, including Fan Wenlan, Ke Zhongping, and Deng Fa, to attend the "Date Garden Banquet." This is part of Mao Zedong's speech at the banquet.

[2] Old Ke refers to Ke Zhongping (1902–1964), originally named Ke Weihan, from Baoning (present-day Nanchong), Yunnan. On 15 September 1942, he was personally nominated by Mao Zedong as a specially invited contributor for the fourth page of *Liberation Daily*.

*The Yangge Troupe Arrives at the Date Garden* (Chinese painting)

*The Happiness Canal* (Chinese painting)