I. After several of my unconventional poems were published, commentators sprang up like bees—each one well-intentioned.
Some hit the mark, others missed it; I feel obliged to offer clarifications.
In December 1958, while in Guangzhou, I came across a September 1958 edition printed by the Cultural Relics Publishing House, with very wide margins. Taking advantage of this space, I penned the following remarks, both to thank the commentators and to express my gratitude to the readers.
In 1927, Lu Xun was in Guangzhou, revising his “A Collection of Ancient Fiction,” and remarked: “Then the sea of clouds grew deep and dark, while stars and moon shone clear.”[2] From that time until today, thirty-one years have passed. The mainland is now verdant, yet swarms of bloodthirsty mosquitoes still sigh from afar—such is my situation here in Guangzhou.
On our side, these voracious mosquitoes have been almost entirely eradicated. Of course, the revolution is not yet complete, and comrades must continue their efforts.
In Hong Kong and Taiwan, however, such mosquitoes remain numerous; indeed, they form veritable armies in the Western world as well.
Would it not be magnificent if millions upon millions of Yu Gong from every nation could, each in his own way, move mountains to sweep away these mosquito hordes? I venture to imitate Lu Fangweng’s verse:[3] “Mankind now soars among the stars, yet grieves that all five continents are not united.”
When Yu Gong shall have banished every bloodsucker, let us not forget, at the public memorial rite, to report this triumph to Marx!
On the morning of December 21, 1958, at ten o’clock, Mao Zedong went swimming, striking the water twice. At that time he was but a novice; it was midsummer, the river was swollen, and several near-drownings occurred. Yet a small group persevered, continuing even into the depths of winter, still wading in the river.
There once existed a poem composed then, but I have since forgotten its entirety, recalling only two lines:[4] “Confident that life may span two hundred years, I shall strike the waters for three thousand li.”
Three surging tides: In 1927, on the eve of the Great Revolution’s failure, my mood was bleak and desolate, leaving me momentarily at a loss. This was during the spring of that year.
By summer, on August 7th, an emergency meeting of the Party[6] resolved to launch an armed counteroffensive, thereby finding a way forward.
Four: Having roamed the green hills, I am still young: In 1934, with the situation critically grave and preparations underway for the Long March, my spirits were once again heavy and oppressed.
This “Qing Ping Le” poem, like the earlier “Pusa Man,” reveals the same state of mind.[7]
The Long March stretched over ten thousand li, winding and twisting countless times; success proved far rarer than hardship, and my heart remained somber.
Only after crossing the Min Mountains did a sudden clarity dawn, turning matters around: “Where willows obscure and flowers bloom anew lies yet another village.”[8]
The following pieces reflect just such a mood.
Six: Water slapping—revised from “waves slapping.” A friend unknown to me suggested this change. He argued that having two instances of the character “wave” within a single poem would be acceptable.
Three Armies: The First Front Army, the Second Front Army, and the Fourth Front Army of the Red Army.
These are not the Navy, Army, and Air Force,[9] nor are they the Upper, Middle, and Lower Armies of ancient Jin State.
Seven: The Azure Dragon: Chiang Kai-shek, not the Japanese.
For at present, our full attention must be directed toward Chiang—not the Japanese.[10]
Eight: Kunlun: The central theme is opposition to imperialism, nothing else.
One line was altered: “A segment remains in China” was changed to “A segment returns to the Eastern Lands.”
To overlook the Japanese would be a mistake.
Thus, Britain,[11] America, and Japan are all implicated.
Other interpretations do not accord with reality.
Nine: Snow—opposition to feudalism, a critique of one reactionary aspect of two millennia of feudal rule.
Elegance of style, literary flair, grand imagery—these can only be expressed thus; remember, this is poetry! Could one really hurl insults at such figures? Any other interpretation is erroneous.
The final three lines refer to the proletariat.[12]
Thirteen to eleven years: In 1919 I left Beijing, and in 1949 I returned there.[13]
Old Capital-Country: The capital city.
Not a State, nor a Country.
Eleven: Changsha Waters: A folk song goes: “Mount De in Changde bears virtue; Changsha’s sands leave no sand in its waters.” The so-called “sand-free waters” lie east of Changsha City, where stands the famed “White Sand Well.”
Wuchang Fish: During the Three Kingdoms period, Sun Quan once moved the capital from Jingkou (present-day Zhenjiang) to Wuchang. Officials, gentry, landlords, and other affluent classes disapproved of this relocation, rallying under the slogan: “Better to eat Yangzhou’s water than Wuchang fish.” Such was the sentiment in Yangzhou at that time.
Today, things have changed: Wuchang fish has become quite palatable.
Twelve[14] and fifteen[15] upper and lower rhymes must remain unchanged; they cannot be altered and should stand as they are.
Printed according to Mao Zedong’s manuscript.
Notes [1] These are marginalia written by Mao Zedong in the large-print edition of “Nineteen Poems by Chairman Mao,” engraved and printed by the Cultural Relics Publishing House in September 1958.
[2] The quotation from Lu Xun was recalled and written down by Mao Zedong from memory. In 1927, while in Guangzhou, Lu Xun compiled and edited “A Collection of Tang and Song Legends,” composing a Preface and Remarks, which concluded with the words: “As night enveloped the heavens, the bright moon shone clearly; distant swarms of bloodsucking mosquitoes sighed, while I remained in Guangzhou.”
The first volume of “A Collection of Tang and Song Legends” was published by Beixin Bookstore in December 1927, with the second volume following in February of the next year.
[3] Lu Fangweng refers to Lu You (1125–1210), courtesy name Wu Guan, sobriquet Fangweng, native of Shanyin in Yuezhou (modern Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province), a poet of the Southern Song dynasty.
Lu You composed a seven-character quatrain titled “To My Son”: “Though death reveals all things to be empty, I grieve most that the nine provinces are not united. When imperial forces march north to pacify the Central Plains, let not my family forget to inform my father at the ancestral rites.”
[4] This is Mao Zedong’s annotation concerning the phrase “striking the waters” in the ci poem “Qinyuan Chun·Changsha.”
[5] Refers to the Emergency Meeting of the CPC Central Committee held in Hankou on August 7, 1927. See note [4] on page 57 of this volume.
[6] This is Mao Zedong’s annotation regarding the phrase “surging tides” in the ci poem “Pusa Man·Yellow Crane Tower.”
[7] This is Mao Zedong’s annotation on the line “Having roamed the green hills, I am still young” from the ci poem “Qing Ping Le·Huichang.” Here, “Pusa Man” refers to “Pusa Man·Yellow Crane Tower.”
[8] This annotation was written in the margin of the page containing the ci poem “Yi Qin E·Loushan Pass.”