Letter to Lin Ke
(October 2, 1957)

Source: Shuxin, pp. 531–532.

See text Aug. 4, 1957, source note.

Lin Ke:
I have not seen you for many days. Are you getting a bit bored with the solitude?
For you to dig into the habit of reading books, newspapers, or periodicals and
to absorb from a broad range of material, for you to scan widely is beneficial, for
me as well as for you.¹ My hope is that you will pay a slightly greater amount of


attention to articles on theory, and to gradually nurture interest in this area. Now
that we are more advanced in our age, it is the proper time for us to dig down and
study assiduously. The only thing is that we must watch out, and, on principle, not
allow that to impair our health. Please find for me a copy of Liu chao wenjie [An
Outline of the Literary Works of the Six Dynasties]2 and some collections—of
various types—of the writings of people of the Six Dynasties.
Mao Zedong
October 2

Notes

1. See text Aug. 4, 1957.
2. This is a collection of seventy-two pieces of pianti (parallel-construction euphuistic)
writings of the Six Dynasties period (i.e., from the Eastern Jin dynasty to the Sui dynasty,
ca. A.D. 317–618) Most of the pieces were short and fairly well-known. Typically, pianti
writing is descriptive (often ornately so) and emotionally evocative and allegorical. The
selection and compilation of this set was done by Xu Lian in the Qing dynasty.