Letter to Fu Dingyi1
(September 30, 1946)
To my esteemed Master Yu Cheng:
I have been touched by your radiance and have received your letter. Your
teachings are always so moving and I am very grateful to you. De Fang2 is returning to Beiping and I asked her to bring you a little present, which I hope you will
accept. The world situation is very chaotic and I hope you will take care of yourself for the sake of the nation.
Respectfully, I wish you well. There is more to say than can be written here.
Your student,
Mao Zedong
Our source for this letter is Mao Zedong shuxin xuanji, p. 277, where it is reproduced
from a handwritten version.
1.  Fu Dingyi (1887–1958, born in Hengshan, Hunan), also known as Yu Cheng, was
a philologist from Hengshan city, Hunan Province. After the 1911 Xinhai Revolution, he
was the principal of Hunan High School during the time when Mao Zedong was studying
there. In summer 1946, Mao Zedong invited him to Yan'an. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Fu served as director of the Central Research Institute of Culture
and History.
2.  Fu Dingyi’s daughter, Fu Defang (De Fang),  accompanied him to Yan’an. Fu
returned to Beiping first, and Mao sent this letter with De Fang for her to give to Fu when
she returned.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719511-232