A Letter about Poetry
(January 12, 1957)

Source: XHBYK, 102 (Feb. 25, 1957), 108. Other Chinese Texts: Wansui (1967b),
p. 14; Wansui (n.d. 3), p. 129; Shuxin, pp. 520–521; RMSC (1958), p. 619; URI
(1976), p. 5; Buyi, p. 98. Available English Translations: CB, 891 (Oct. 8, 1969),
23; URI (1976), p. 7; H. Engle and P. Engle (1972), p. 17; CB, 897 (Dec. 10, 1969),
3 (excerpt).

The recipient of this letter was Zhang Kejia, himself a prominent contemporary poet and
novelist. He was vice-chairman of the Federation of Chinese Writers. In 1957, he organized
the publication of the magazine Shikan (Poetry). According to the Buyi source, Zhang and
Mao discussed the writing of poetry, and particularly new-form poetry, in January 1957,
over a dinner at Mao’s home. (This experience was reported in an article Zhang wrote in
HQ, 21–22 [combined issue, 1961].)
Mao’s poems, mentioned in this letter, were published in the inaugural issue of Shikan
in January 1957 and immediately thereafter were reprinted throughout the country, in large
and small newspapers, as well as in all sorts of professional and popular periodicals. They
were also reprinted in RMSC (1958), pp. 617–619. An English translation of the poems,
published by the Foreign Languages Press, appeared in 1958 as Eighteen Poems in the
Classical Style by Chairman Mao. See also text Dec. 21, 1958.

Comrade Kejia and other comrades:1
Your letter was received quite a while ago. My apologies for being so tardy in


replying! As you wished, I have now copied, on the enclosed sheets, all the old-style
poems [of mine] that I can remember, together with the eight that you sent to me,
making eighteen altogether.2 Please check and take appropriate action.
Up to now I have always been unwilling to publish these things formally because
they are written in the old style.3 I was afraid that this might incidentally encourage
a wrong trend and exert a bad influence on young people. Besides, they are not
much as poetry and there is nothing outstanding about them. However, since you
feel that they can be published and in doing so you will also correct the inaccurately
written characters in some of these poems, versions of which are already in
circulation, then do what you think is best.
It is good that the magazine Shikan [Poetry] is being published. I wish it well in
its growth and development. In speaking of poetry, of course, it should be written
mainly in the modern style. A few old-style verses may be written, but it would not
be advisable to promote this among the young people because that kind of style
constricts thought and is also difficult to learn. These words are merely for your
consideration.

Comradely salutations!
Mao Zedong
January 12, 1957

Notes

1. The Buyi, Wansui (1967b), Wansui (n.d. 3), and CB sources have “Comrade XX” in
place of “Comrade Kejia” here.
2. The eighteen that were subsequently published in Shikan in January 1957 under the
title “Mao Zhuxi jiuti shiba shou” (Eighteen Old-Style Shi and Ci by Chairman Mao)
were the following: “Changsha” (1925, to the pattern of Qinyuanchun), “Yellow Crane
Pavilion” (Spring 1927, to the pattern of Pusaman), “Jinggangshan” (Autumn 1928, to the
pattern of Xijiangyue), “New Year’s Day” (January 1930, to the pattern of Rumengling),
“Da bodi” (Summer 1933, to the pattern of Pusaman), “Huichang” (Summer 1934, to the
pattern of Qingpingyue), “Loushan Pass” (February 1935, to the pattern of Yiqine), “Three
Sixteen-Character Short Poems” (1934–1935, counting here as three items), “Long March”
(October 1935), “Kunlun” (October 1935, to the pattern of Niannujiao), “Liupan Mountain”
(October 1935, to the pattern of Qingpingyue), “Snow” (February 1936, to the pattern of
Qinyuanchun), “Reply to Mr. Liu Yazi” (April 29, 1949), “Reply to Mr. Liu Yazi” (October
1950), “Beidaihe” (Summer 1954, to the pattern of Langtaosha), and “Swimming” (June
1956, to the pattern of Shuidiaogetou).
3. Mao is referring to the classical Chinese verse forms of shi and ci. The shi (a term that
doubles as the generic term for poetry) has a strict tonal pattern and rhyme scheme. There
are two popular forms of shi: the lu form, which consists of eight lines of five or seven
characters (syllables) each, in which the third line parallels the fourth (and the fifth line
parallels the sixth) in both tonal pattern and sense. The entire poem follows one of several
rhyme patterns which are common to all poems. The jue form consists of four lines of seven
or five characters each and is a sort of truncated lu. The third and fourth lines are
counterpointed in tone but not juxtapository in sense. The shi form of poetry flowered in the
Tang dynasty (618–907).
The ci form, which originated in the Tang and flourished in the Song dynasty, are poems
written and sung according to standardized patterns derived from prototypes. Each prototype
prescribes a unique pattern, with a tonal and rhyming pattern that is to be followed by every



ci subsequently written to that tune. (Later variations were developed.) It also prescribes the
number of lines and the length of each line. Poems written in the ci form often do not bear
their own titles (or do so only as a subtitle) but bear the title of the prototype.
The classical forms of poetry, therefore, are very rigidly patterned and, in the hands of
pedantic rather than creative people, have the tendency of becoming rather stale and stilted.
New forms of poetry, highly popularized in the May Fourth era of the 1920s, were, on
the other hand, considered to be much more liberal and creative. Ironically, much of the
new-form poetry that Mao wrote during his lifetime contained quite a few classical elements.