Beidaihe: A Poem
(Summer 1954)

Source: Poems of Mao Tse-tung, pp. 82-83. Other Chinese Texts. Shici, p. 29;
Mao shici, pp. 12-13; Poems, pp. 48-49. Available English Translations:
Poems of Mao Tse-tung, pp. 83; Poems, p, 48; S. Schram (1974). p- 166;
J. Chen (1967), p. 345.

Beidaihe is a resort area southwest of the city of Qinhuangdao at the northeastern tip
of Hebei Province, on the coast af the Bohai, This poem ix set te the ci pattern of Langtaosha, which was derived from a septametric lu poem of the same title of the Tang
dynusty, and was popularized as « modified ci pattern by Li Yu (Emperor Houzhu of
the Southern Tang dynasty, 937-975 A.D.), and by the Song dynasty poets Liu Yong
ond Zhou Bangvan.

Torrents falling upon the land of You-Yan,'

Foamy waves dashing toward the sky-

Beyond Qinhuangdao,’ some fishing boats are drifting,

Sereened by the vast expanse of ocean from view:

Who can tell where they are?

The story of this land reaches back beyond a thousand years,

To when Emperor Wudi of Wei brandished his whip.

And left the world his poem: | Descend Upon Jieshi.’

Today, as it did then, the bleak autumn wind whispers and sighs;
Nothing has changed, except in the world of Man.”

Notes

462 (/ MAO ZEDONG

ally located in northeastern China, and at ome time 11 included territory in what is ty
Yan was one of the many warring states in the Spring and Autumn and Warring Sy
(722-481 B.C. and 403-221 B.C.), Both are archaic terms describing the porthem uy aL
em part of Hebei Province, Where Beidaihe ts located: J
3. The line “Danglin Jieshi"’ (I descend on my eastward journey upon Jieshi) op
poem in a set of five written by Can Cao, Emperor (poxifumousty) Wudi of the W
207 A.D, (see text June 30, 1953, note3), when he was making war upon the Tara
easter Chima. The set of poems is known under the aggrepate tithe Buchy tiamen cing f
a Softee from Xiamen). Jéeshi is the name of a rocky cliff near Beidaihe which has, sine
time, sunk nto the sea, The phrase xisoshi giufeng (shivering autumn winds) also apg
Wudi"s poem. :

--- Notes

|. You-Yan stands for Yourlou and the state of Yan. Youzhow & the name of a Chinese
tmimistrative regien whose territory had changed from the Zhou dynasty (N41-221 B.C.)
through the Qin (221-206 B.C), Han (206 B,C.-220 A.D.) and subsequent dynasties until It was
Sbolished as an administrative regen designation in the Sui dynuaty (58-61% A,B.) It was pener-


2, Qinhuangdan translates as "The Island of the Qin Emperor” und is named ir
Emperor Shihuang of the Qin dynasty (221-206 B.C.). (See text May 8, 1958, ng “54
actually a peninsula locared on the easternmost tip of Hebei Province, about 10 km. ae
Beidaihe. It has an ice-free harbor and has been exploited as a trading pewt sitoc the a
the nineteenth century 4

4, This aphorism denves from the Tang dynasty poct Li Bo's poem “Shanzhong w
Dialogue in the Hills). a