Brother Dongyuan:

Your letter and poem received and read, much delighted. I am still well. Regarding Mr. X's *Songs of Chu*, I am most eager to read it. Please pass this on to Brother Jiang Zhuru [2] on my behalf. Also, please convey my regards to Mr. Cao Zigu [3], and thank him for the poem he gifted me and for the *Gazetteer of Mount Heng*.

Wishing you peace.

Mao Zedong
December 29

[1] Zhou Shizhao, also known as Dongyuan, was a classmate of Mao Zedong at the Hunan First Normal School. At the time, he served as Deputy Director of the Hunan Provincial Education Department and concurrently as Principal of the Hunan First Normal School.
[2] Jiang Zhuru, a classmate of Mao Zedong at the Hunan First Normal School.
[3] Cao Zigu, namely Cao Zigu, served before Liberation as Director of the Hunan Provincial Education Department and President of Hunan University. After the founding of New China, he served as a Standing Committee member of the Hunan Provincial Political Consultative Conference and Deputy Director of the Hunan Research Institute of Culture and History.