A poem by Liu Yuxi, written in the “Reference Materials” [1] (November 1958):   High coiffure and towering coronet, courtly attire [2];   To the spring breeze, a song of Du Weiniang.   What to the grand secretary is but commonplace,   Has wrung the heart of the Suzhou prefect to its very core. [3]   Du Hongjian of Yangzhou. Printed according to Mao Zedong’s manuscript.   Notes:   [ ] This is a poem by the Tang poet Liu Yuxi, titled “A Gift to Li Sikong’s Singer,” which Mao Zedong copied into Issue No. of the Xinhua News Agency–edited “Reference Materials” on November 10, 1958. That issue of “Reference Materials” carried a United Press International dispatch under the headline “U.S. Officials Strive to Vilify Our People’s Commune Movement, Yet Acknowledge Its Great Significance and Far-Reaching Impact, Adding That the South Is Closely Watching This Development.” The dispatch stated: “Mao Zedong has set his country on an ambitious course to implement communist principles never before attempted. This is far more radical than anything the Soviet Union ever tried, and the success or failure of China’s rulers will depend on whether it succeeds.” “Mao is staking everything on whether this system can feed the nation. Given the recurrent droughts and floods—disasters that have made famine in China almost routine—this is a risky undertaking.” “The Communist leader of China is organizing society into the most efficient units of production—on paper. At the same time, however, he is gathering a potential counterrevolutionary base that could overthrow him if things go awry. The consequences of this system’s success or

failure will extend far beyond China’s borders. The ‘nationalist’ communists of Yugoslavia, like their counterparts in the Eastern European satellite states who long for greater freedom from Moscow, are watching this development with keen interest.” Mao drew horizontal lines beneath these passages, or marked them with emphasis. The poem by Liu Yuxi that he transcribed was written in the margins above and beside this dispatch.   [2] The original line in Liu Yuxi’s poem reads: “High coiffure and cloudlike tresses, courtly makeup.”   [3] The “Complete Collection of Tang Poems” notes: “When Yuxi went to Wutai, Grand Marshal Du Hongjian of Yangzhou held a banquet and ordered a singer to attend. … Liu composed a poem at the feast… Du Weiniang is the title of a song.”