Two Letters to Hu Qiaomu[2] Regarding Requesting Guo Moruo[1] to Revise the Poems "To Shaoshan" and "Ascending Mount Lu"

(September 7 and 13, 1959)

Comrade Qiaomu:

Two poems[3], please send them to Comrade Guo Moruo for a reading, to see if there are any flaws? To have them trimmed and polished, this is of utmost importance. The theme is for opposing the Right deviation and boosting morale, for punishing those who oppose the Party, oppose the General Line, oppose the Great Leap Forward, and oppose the People's Communes. Though the theme is good, there is not much poetic flavor, only a few lines are somewhat better, such as "Clouds span the nine tributaries, the yellow crane floats" and the like. Poetry is difficult, not easy to write. Those who experience it are like fish drinking water, knowing cold and warm by themselves, not worth telling to outsiders.

Mao Zedong
September 7

[1] Guo Moruo, then Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and Chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles.
[2] Hu Qiaomu, then secretary to Mao Zedong.
[3] Refers to the two poems "Qilü: To Shaoshan" written by Mao Zedong in June 1959 and "Qilü: Ascending Mount Lu" written on July 1.

Comrade Qiaomu:

Both letters from Comrade Moruo have given me inspiration upon reading. The two poems have again had a few words and phrases altered. Please send them again to Comrade Moruo for a look, and request him to review and revise them further, and to inform me of his opinions.

Mao Zedong
Morning of September 13

"The overlord" refers to Chiang Kai-shek. This couplet[1] writes about the class struggle of that period. The whole poem writes about the history of thirty-two years.

[1] Refers to the line "The red flag roused the serfs to battle, the black hand raised high the overlord's whip" in the poem "Qilü: To Shaoshan."