I urge you to spare your scorn for Qin Shi Huang [3],
For his burning of books and burying of scholars [4] warrants reflection.
Though Zu Long's [5] spirit perished, his legacy endures;
Confucian learning [6] holds lofty renown, yet its substance is mere husk and chaff.
All dynasties have followed the Qin Dynasty's political system and laws.
Ten criticisms [7] is not a good article.
Read the feudal theories of the Tang Dynasty.
Don’t follow Zihou [8] and return to King Wen [9]
Mao Zedong
1973, 8,


9 In the title, Guo Moruo is referred to as “Guo Lao” where “Lao” is the word for “old”.  Where “Lao” precedes a
person’s surname, it shows respect; when it comes after a person’s surname, it displays a higher form of
veneration. Although this poem is critical of Guo Moruo’s “Ten Articles”, Mao continued to hold Guo in high
esteem.
10 In 1971, after the Lin Biao incident, Mao Zedong launched a campaign to criticise Lin and Confucius,
dismissing Confucianism in its entirety. He also printed Guo Moruo's "Ten Criticisms" in large print. At a
meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, he suggested that Guo Moruo's Ten Criticisms
contained the idea of respecting Confucius and should be criticised; in July 1973, in another talk, he said: "In
his Ten Criticisms, Guo claimed to be humanist, that is, people-oriented. Confucius was also humanist, and like
him Guo Lao not only respected Confucius, but was also anti-Legalist. Respecting Confucius and opposing
Legalism, so was the Kuomintang! So was Lin Biao!" Soon after, Mao Zedong advocated an article by Professor
Yang Rongguo of Zhongshan University in Guangdong, entitled "Confucius a thinker who stubbornly defended
slavery", which was published in the People's Daily. in late 1975 and early 1976, he also had this to say: "To
read philosophy, you can read Yang Rongguo's A History of Ancient Chinese Thought and A Concise History of
Chinese Philosophy. This is China. You have to criticise Confucius. Some people do not know about Confucius,
so they can read Feng Youlan's On Confucius and Feng Tianyu's Critique of Confucius' Educational Thought.
Feng Tianyu's is better than Feng Youlan's. You can also read the section on revering Confucianism and
opposing the law in Guo Lao's Ten Criticisms." In 1974, Yang Rongguo’s article and a self-criticism by Feng
Youlan were printed in “Selected Articles Criticising Lin Biao and Confucius Vol 1” which is available on
bannedthought.net here (CriticizingLinPiaoAndConfucius-1-1974.pdf).