Seven-Character Regulated Verse: The Chongqing Negotiations

(1945)

Where there are fields and land, all are our masters; [1]
Lawless and godless are your subjects. [2]
In Chongqing every official is a corrupt ink-stained clerk; [3]
In Yan’an there is no soil that is not gold. [4]
Blasting bridges and digging up roads [5] serve unity;
Seizing land and contending for cities [6] is struggle.

[1] “Fields and land” refers to the revolutionary base areas. “All are our masters” means we are the masters everywhere. Another interpretation holds that “fields and land” refers to the rich, and “all are our masters” means they rule over the people.

[2] “Lawless and godless” refers to the Communist Party not obeying the command of Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang government and not abiding by Chiang’s so-called “law.” During the Chongqing negotiations, Chiang Kai-shek said the Communist Party must hand over its army, otherwise it would be lawless and godless. He also said, just as there are not two suns in the sky, there cannot be two masters in a nation. “Your” refers to the Kuomintang government. “Your subjects” means your common people; here it is a sarcastic reference to the Kuomintang government.

[3] Chongqing served as the wartime alternate capital where the Kuomintang government relocated from 1938 to 1946. “Ink” means filthy, stained. “Ink-stained clerks” means corrupt officials. From Zuo Zhuan, Duke Zhao, 14th Year: “Greed that brings down an official is called ink.”

[4] Yan’an was the seat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China from 1937 to 1947. “Gold” carries multiple meanings: it refers to Yan’an’s location on the loess plateau of Shaanxi and Shanxi, and also expresses that it is a splendid part of the motherland, a scene of excellent conditions.

[5] “Blasting bridges and digging up roads” refers to sabotaging the enemy’s communications.

[6] “Seizing land and contending for cities” refers to capturing cities and territory from the enemy.

Everywhere, grieving swans, everywhere, blood;
Nothing but a single thought to save the common people. [1] Grieving swans: swans crying mournfully. From the Book of Songs, Minor Odes, “The Swans”: “The swans take flight, their cries are wailing.” Here it is a metaphor for refugees displaced and wandering.
[2] A single thought: one idea. Common people: originally referred to places where grasses and trees grow, later often used to refer to the common people.

Attachment:

Table of Meetings Between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party During the Chongqing Negotiations

| Time | Location | Party Representatives | Content of Talks |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1945.9.3 | No. 101 | Chiang Kai-shek, Mao Zedong | Organization and numbers of the CPC army, stationing areas, Liberated Areas, Political Conference, National Assembly |
| 1945.9.4 | No. 101 | Zhou Enlai, Wang Ruofei, Zhang Qun, Shao Lizi, Zhang Zhizhong | Army reorganization and Liberated Areas |
| 1945.9.8 | No. 101 | Zhou Enlai, Wang Ruofei, Zhang Qun, Shao Lizi, Zhang Zhizhong | Number of army units organized and division of provincial areas |
| 1945.9.10 | No. 101 | Zhou Enlai, Wang Ruofei, Zhang Qun, Shao Lizi, Zhang Zhizhong | Political Conference, National Assembly (Zhang Zhizhong first proposed the term “Political Consultative Conference” at this meeting) |
| 1945.9.11 | No. 101 | Zhou Enlai, Wang Ruofei, Zhang Qun, Shao Lizi, Ye Chucang, Zhang Lisheng | National Assembly, number of delegates |
| 1945.9.12 | No. 101 | Zhou Enlai, Wang Ruofei, Zhang Qun, Shao Lizi, Zhang Lisheng | National Assembly, Political Conference, administrative program, participation of various parties in the government, and recognition of the Liberated Areas |
| 1945.9.15 | No. 101 | Zhou Enlai, Wang Ruofei, Zhang Qun, Shao Lizi | Division of provincial areas, selection of local government personnel, and army stationing areas |
| 1945.9.17 | No. 101 | Chiang Kai-shek, Mao Zedong, Patrick J. Hurley | Military issues |
| 1945.9.19 | No. 101 | Zhou Enlai, Wang Ruofei, Zhang Qun, Shao Lizi, Zhang Zhizhong | Number of army reductions, stationing areas, and Liberated Areas |
| 1945.9.21 | No. 101 | Zhou Enlai, Wang Ruofei, Zhang Qun, Shao Lizi, Zhang Zhizhong | Reorganizing the army and resolving the Liberated Areas |

| Time | Location | Party Representatives | Content of Talks |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1945.9.27 | No. 103 | Zhou Enlai, Wang Ruofei, Zhang Qun, Shao Lizi, Zhang Zhizhong | Army reduction and Liberated Areas |
| 1945.9.28 | No. 103 | Zhou Enlai, Wang Ruofei, Zhang Qun, Shao Lizi, Zhang Zhizhong | Technical aspects of army reorganization |
| 1945.10.2 | No. 103 | Zhou Enlai, Wang Ruofei, Zhang Qun, Shao Lizi, Zhang Zhizhong | Political Consultative Conference and Liberated Areas |
| 1945.10.5 | No. 103 | Zhou Enlai, Wang Ruofei, Zhang Qun, Shao Lizi, Zhang Zhizhong | Political Consultative Conference, Liberated Areas |
| 1945.10.8 | No. 103 | Zhou Enlai, Wang Ruofei, Zhang Qun, Shao Lizi, Zhang Zhizhong | Discussing and revising the “Summary of Talks Between the Representatives of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party” drafted by Zhou Enlai |

Record of the main activities of Mao Zedong during the Chongqing negotiations, “The Dynamics of Political Councilor Mao Zedong in Chongqing Municipality.”

The main negotiation site for the Kuomintang and the Communist Party — No. 101 De’anli, Zengjiayan, Zhongshan 4th Road, the official residence of Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Mei-ling.

The “Double Tenth Agreement” signed on October 10, 1945, during the Chongqing negotiations between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party.

The signing site of the “Double Tenth Agreement.”

Archival photograph

On October 11, 1945, Mao Zedong, accompanied by Zhang Zhizhong, left Chongqing and returned to Yan’an.

On October 11, 1945, Chen Cheng, representing Chiang Kai-shek, went to Jiulongpo Airport to see Mao Zedong off.

On October 11, 1945, Mao Zedong shook hands with General Zhang Zhen in farewell.

On October 11, 1945, people from various circles in Chongqing went to the airport to see him off.

On October 11, 1945, Mao Zedong bid farewell at the airport to staff from the Southern Bureau, the Office, and the Xinhua Daily who had come to see him off.

On October 11, 1945, Mao Zedong shook hands with Zhang Lan, who had come to see him off.

On October 11, 1945, Mao Zedong returned from Chongqing to Yan’an. The picture shows Mao Zedong and others at the Yan’an airport.

Archival photograph

On October 11, 1945, Mao Zedong at the Yan’an airport.

On October 11, 1945, Mao Zedong at the Yan’an airport.

On October 11, 1945, Mao Zedong and others at the Yan’an airport.

Archival photograph

On October 11, 1945, Mao Zedong at the Yan’an airport.

On October 11, 1945, Mao Zedong at the Yan’an airport.

Archival photograph

“Return from the Negotiations” (Chinese painting)