Comments on Reading Feng Xuefeng’s [1] Poems and Fables (December 31, 1954) 1. This document [2] is hereby sent to Comrades Liu, Zhou, Zhu, Chen, Deng, Peng Zhen, Peng Dehuai, Chen Yi, and Lu Dingyi [3] for your review; please return it to Mao. A few poems and fables by Feng Xuefeng are worth reading. If you are short on time, you may simply read the first piece, “Hellfire.” Mao Zedong Printed from the manuscript on December 31. 2. Comrades Chen Boda, Hu Qiaomu, Hu Sheng, and Tian Jiaying [4] are requested to read Feng Xuefeng’s poems and fables. If time is limited, you may just read “Hellfire.” Printed according to Mao Zedong’s manuscript. Notes [1] Feng Xuefeng was then Vice Chairman of the All-China Writers Association. 6£´

[2, ] Refers to Feng Xuefeng’s poems “Fire,” “Morning of March 5,” and his fables “Hellfire,” “The Duck Who Was Once an Opponent and Later Became a Propagandist,” and “The Monkey Doctor and the Seriously Ill Donkey.” [3] Liu refers to Liu Shaoqi. Zhou refers to Zhou Enlai. Zhu refers to Zhu De. Chen refers to Chen Yun, who at that time was a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee. Deng refers to Deng Xiaoping, then Secretary-General of the CPC Central Committee. Peng Zhen was then an alternate member of the Secretariat. Peng Dehuai was a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. Chen Yi was a member of the Central Committee. Lu Dingyi was Deputy Minister of the CPC Central Committee’s Propaganda Department. [4] Chen Boda was then Deputy Minister of the CPC Central Committee’s Propaganda Department. Hu Qiaomu was Deputy Minister of the CPC Central Committee’s Propaganda Department and Mao Zedong’s secretary. Hu Sheng was Secretary-General of the CPC Central Committee’s Propaganda Department. Tian Jiaying was Deputy Director of the Office of the President of the People’s Republic of China and Mao Zedong’s secretary.