Letter to Lan Gongwu1
(April 27, 1948)
Mr. Gongwu:
Thirty years ago, I had the pleasure of reading your erudite opinions in Chen
bao and Guomin gongbao. Now that I have learned that you are living nearby, I
would like very much to meet you face-to-face to benefit from your wisdom. I am
sending a car now and await your arrival. If you could kindly spare some of your
valuable time for a visit, I would greatly welcome it. Respectfully yours.
Peace!
Mao Zedong
Our source for this text is Mao Zedong shuxin xuanji, p. 300, where it is reproduced
from Mao’s handwritten manuscript.
1.  Lan Gongwu (1887–1957, born in Suzhou), a veteran journalist, arrived in the JinCha-Ji (Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei) Liberated Area in autumn 1945 and became head of the
Education Department in the Chahar provincial government, and vice-president of the
people’s government of North China. After the establishment of the People’s Republic of
China, he served as deputy attorney general of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate. Before
his death in 1957, he applied to join the Chinese Communist Party, and the Central Committee acknowledged his membership posthumously.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719436-114