〈Winter Clouds〉, a Poem [I] and a Letter to Lin Ke [2]
(26 December 1962)

**A Poem on Winter Clouds**
Snow weighs on winter clouds, white fluff flies,
A myriad flowers wither all at once, for a time sparse.
High in the sky, rolling cold currents surge, [3]
Across the great earth, a subtle warm air blows.
There are heroes who drive away tigers and leopards,
Still less are there bold men who fear bears. [4]
The plum blossom delights in sky-filling snow,
It is no wonder that flies freeze to death.

[I] When this poem was published in *Poems of Chairman Mao* by the People’s Literature Publishing House in December 1963, the line “High in the sky, rolling cold currents discharge” was changed to “High in the sky, rolling cold currents race.”

[2] Lin Ke was then serving as a secretary in Mao Zedong’s office.

[3] “Winter Clouds,” dated 26 December (the author’s birthday), fell on the fourth day after the Winter Solstice that year. An old saying goes, “On the Winter Solstice, the first stirring of Yang arises,” hence the poem says, “Across the great earth, a subtle warm air blows.” This is a metaphor: although it is the Winter Solstice, the great earth is not yet completely controlled by the cold currents.

[4] Pi, a kind of bear, now called the horse bear or man-bear.

*The Complete Works of Mao Zedong*, Volume 45

Comrade Lin Ke:
Please have one poem printed. Have 50 copies made this afternoon and delivered to me before six o’clock this evening.

Mao Zedong
Seven o’clock in the morning, the 26th

**Reference Image**