Comments and Reply on the Letter from Ye Gongchuo [1] and Others Requesting the Preservation of the Yuan Chonghuan Memorial Temple and Tomb
(May 16 and 25, 1952)

Comrade Peng Zhen [2] is requested to investigate and handle the matter. In my opinion, if there are no major obstacles, the Yuan Chonghuan Memorial Temple and Tomb should be preserved.

Mr. Yuhu,

Mao Zedong
May 16

Several months ago, I received your esteemed letter, accompanied by a poem written by Mr. Sa Zhenbing [3]. Shortly thereafter, I received two more of your own compositions. I am extremely grateful for all of them. Mr. Sa has now passed away, and the poem he wrote has become a memento. I am hereby returning it to you for safekeeping. Recently, I also received a letter from you and three other gentlemen [4], concerning the memorial temple of Mr. Yuan Chonghuan, a patriotic leader of the late Ming Dynasty. I have informed Mayor Peng Zhen that if there are no major obstacles, it should be preserved.

**Notes**
[1] Ye Gongchuo, courtesy name Yuhu. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he served as a member of the Culture and Education Committee of the Government Administration Council and deputy director of the Central Research Institute of Culture and History.
[2] Peng Zhen, then Mayor of the Beijing Municipal People's Government.
[3] Sa Zhenbing, served as Minister of the Navy during the rule of the Beiyang warlords. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he served as a member of the First National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and a member of the People's Revolutionary Military Council.
[4] The letter from Ye Gongchuo and three others, dated May 14, 1952, requested the protection of the Yuan Chonghuan Memorial Temple in Beijing.

Mao Zedong, *Complete Works*, Volume 32