• Source: Poetry of Mao Zedong

Mao Zedong (1893–1976), the first Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party and leader of the People's Republic of China for nearly 30 years, wrote poetry, starting in the 1920s, during the Chinese Red Army's retreat during the Long March of 1934–1936, and after coming to power in 1949 following the Chinese Civil War. In spite of Mao's political radicalism he was artistically conservative, opting to use traditional Chinese forms.




Overview


Mao's poems are in the classical Chinese verse style,: 132  rather than the newer Modern Chinese poetry style. Like most Chinese intellectuals of his generation, Mao immersed himself in Chinese classical literature. His style was deeply influenced by the "Three Lis" of the Tang dynasty: poets Li Bai, Li Shangyin, and Li He. He is considered to be a romantic poet, in contrast to the realist poets represented by Du Fu.
Mao's poems are frequently quoted in popular culture, literature and daily conversations. Some of his most well-known poems are "Snow" (1936.02),: 132  "Changsha" (1925), "The Double Ninth" (1929.10), "Loushan Pass" (1935), "The Long March" (1935), "The PLA Captures Nanjing" (1949.04), "Reply to Li Shuyi" (1957.05.11), and "Ode to the Plum Blossom" (1961.12).




Poems






= Changsha (1925)

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Informal Translation:
Changsha
In the (rhyme) pattern of Qinyuanchun

Orange Island is an island in the middle of Xiang River, in Changsha, the capital of Hunan province. Mao attended Hunan First Normal University around 1912–1917.




= Yellow Crane Tower (1927)

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Yellow Crane Tower, a building at the bank of Yangtze River in Wuhan, is very famous in Chinese history and literary tradition. It is one of the Four Great Towers of China. Its fame mainly comes from a poem written by Cui Hao in early Tang dynasty, part of which is:

Mao's poem:

Mao later discussed the historical context of this poem's writing: "At that time (1927), the Great Revolution failed, I was very depressed and didn't know what to do, so I wrote this poem".




= Jinggang Mountain (1928)

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This poem was written in the Jinggang Mountains, where Mao organized a Red Army to fight KMT forces after 1927. Jinggang Mountains is a mountain area at the border of Jiangxi province and Hunan province. It is there Mao began to experiment his theory of guerrilla war. He was quoted as: "When we can beat the enemy, we fight. When we can't beat them, we run".

Huangyangjie is the place where the Red Army beat the KMT army after a fierce battle.




= The Warlords Clash (1929)

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In 1929, Mao's Red Army left Jinggang Mountains and marched eastward to the western part of Fujian province and built their base there.
Line 3-4:

In 1929 Chiang Kai-shek's KMT army began war with Feng Yuxiang and Yan Xishan's armies in north China. That's why Mao said "the warlords are clashing anew", and "Millet Dream" meant Jiang, Feng and Yan's ambitions were just dreams. And Mao thought he could take this opportunity to his advantage when most of KMT army went to fight elsewhere.
Line 5-6 : Ting River is a river in Fujian, both Longyan and Shanghang are cities in Fujian.




= The Double Ninth (October 1929)

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Double Ninth Festival, also called Chongyang, is a Chinese holiday. By tradition on September 9 (Chinese Lunar Calendar) each year, Chinese people would climb to the peaks of nearby mountains, looking far away, thinking about their family members who are travelling in other places.In addition, during that day, people will drink wine made from chrysanthemum to pray for longevity. Therefore, in 1980s, Chinese government set that day as old people's day as well to call on people to respect the senior.




= New Year's Day (January 1930)

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Line 1: Ninghua, Qingliu, Guihua are all places in Fujian
Line 4: Wuyi Mountain is a mountain in Fujian.




= On the Guangchang Road (February 1930)

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Title: Guangchang is a city in Jiangxi, it was called the "North Gate" of CPC's Jiangxi Soviet.
Line 6: Gan River is a river flowing through Jiangxi.
Line 8: Ji'an is a city in Jiangxi.




= March from Tingzhou to Changsha (July 1930)

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Title: Tingzhou is a town in Longyan City, Fujian province, Changsha is the capital of Hunan province. At that time the Red Army tried to take Changsha, but they failed. Fujian is at the east, Hunan is at west, so Mao's army marched westward.
Huang Gonglűe(黄公略) was a leader in the Red Army; he was killed a few years later in battle.




= Against the First "Encirclement" Campaign (1931)

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During 1931-1934 Chiang Kai-shek's KMT government organized five so-called "Encirclement" campaigns on CPC's Jiangxi Soviet in Southeastern China. The first four all failed. Mao led the Red Army beating the first three campaigns, then he was relieved of leadership due to internal power struggles of the CPC. Zhou Enlai and Zhu De led the Red Army to beat the fourth campaign, but they failed the fifth time, and was forced to leave their base and began Long March.
Line 5: Zhang Huizan, the KMT general who led the first "Encirclement" Campaign. He was killed after being captured by the Red Army.
Line 10: Buzhou Mountain, a legendary mountain in Chinese forklore. It is said Buzhou Mountain was one of the four pillars supporting the sky. A giant called Gong Gong quarreled with the gods. He was very angry and banged his head against Buzhou Mountain. Buzhou Mountain was broken, thus the sky tilted and water poured from heaven, causing a huge flood on earth. Here Mao expressed his appreciation for Gong Gong's rebellious spirit.




= Against the Second "Encirclement" Campaign (1931)

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= Dabodi (1933)

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Dabodi is the site of a battle which actually took place at the beginning of 1929. The background: at that time, Mao's Red Army had left Jinggang Mountains to look for a new base. Red Army was beaten several time by the pursuing KMT army. They used up all ammunitions and were starved. Then on the New Year of 1929 they fought a desperate fight in the snow at Dabodi, using stones and bare hands, and beat their enemy. Mao revisited this place several years later and wrote this poem.




= Huichang (1934)

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Huichang is a city in Jiangxi, "Yue" is another name of Canton.




= Loushan Pass (1935)

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This is a famous poem written during Long March. Loushan Pass is a place in Guizhou, where a fierce battle was fought.




= Three Short Poems (1934–1935)

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This poem is also known as "the Three Songs." It is written as three poems with sixteen characters each. This poem was written sometime between 1934 and 1935 during the Long March.




= The Long March (1935)

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This poem was written toward the end of 1935 when the Long March was almost finished. In it Mao listed some places Red Army had travelled through. Five Ridges and Wumeng are both big mountains in southwestern China. Jinsha is actually another name for certain parts of Yangtze River. Dadu River is at the west part of Sichuan, here in a heroic fight, 22 volunteers carried out a suicide attack on the KMT garrison across the iron-chained Luding Bridge and saved the Red Army from being destroyed. The Min Mountains are a mountain range at the Sichuan-Gansu border area, is already close to the end of Long March's route. To get rid of the pursuing KMT army, the Red Army had to climb over its 13000-foot peak and many froze to death on it.
The original poem written by Mao
Informal Translation:

Actually, the Long March was done by three CPC armies separately. One was Mao's 1st Red Army from Jiangxi Soviet, another was Zhang Guotao's 4th Red Army from Hubei soviet, the third one was He Long's 2nd Red Army from west part of Hubei. Here, Mao was glad all three Red Armies were together.




= Kunlun (October 1935)

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The Kunlun Mountains are a mountain range on the upper reaches of the Hotan River in Xinjiang Province, Northwestern China. According to Chinese folklore they (or a different, mythological mythical Kunlun Mountain) are the residence of a pantheon of gods.
Mao added annotations to this poem, commenting "An ancient poet said, 'Three million dragons of white jade are fighting, their broken scales fly all over the sky. In this way he described the flying snow, but here I have used it to describe snowy mountains. In summer, when one climbs the Min Mountain, one looks out on far mountains that seem to dance and shine in dazzling whiteness. There was a saying among the people that years ago the Monkey King (Sun Hsing-che) passed by, all the mountains were on fire. But he borrowed a palm-leaf fan and quenched the flame and that is why the mountains froze and turned white."




= Mount Liupan (October 1935)

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"Mount Liupan" was written in late 1935 after the Red Army almost finished the Long March. Mount Liupan is a mountain in northwestern China.

Line 3 is a quote that inspires millions of tourists who visit the Great Wall every year.




= Snow (February 1936)

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Also translated as Patio Spring Snow, Snow is Mao's most famous poem.: 132  It was written in 1936 just after the Long March: 40  when the communists had reached Yan'an.: 133  He presented it to Liu Yazi, a poet whom Mao had met in Guangzhou in the early 1920s and who, like Mao, favored the traditional ci and lü forms. Through its descriptions of the limitations of the most prominent emperors in Chinese history and its exhortation to look to the present, the poem reflects Mao's ambitions.: 40 
Snow was published in newspapers in 1945 when Mao went to Chongqing in 1945 to hold peace talks with Chiang Kai-shek.: 40–41  Chiang tried to write a similar poem but failed to do so.: 41 
Now, it is widely studied by students in mainland China.
Below is the original poem in Chinese with both a literal English translation and a metric adaptation using one iamb per Chinese character:

The first half praises the grandeur and beauty of northern China in the winter.: 133  The more politically significant part is the second half, where Mao lists important Chinese emperors,: 133  including Qin Shihuang, the first emperor of a united China; Emperor Wu of Han, the Han emperor who defeated the Huns; Emperor Taizong of Tang, the second emperor of the Tang dynasty; Emperor Taizu of Song, the first emperor of the Song dynasty; and Genghis Khan, whom the Chinese celebrate as the founder of the Yuan dynasty despite him never personally conquering China. After describing the shortcomings of these past leaders, Mao hints at his aspiration to surpass them, alluding to a famous passage from Romance of the Three Kingdoms where Cao Cao says to Liu Bei that “the only heroes in the world are you and I.”




= The PLA Captures Nanjing (April 1949)

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In late April 1949, the communist PLA (People's Liberation Army) crossed the Yangtze River and captured the capital of KMT government: Nanjing. Mao wrote this poem to celebrate this historical event.

Zhong Mountain, or Bel Hill is a hill at the suburb of Nanjing.
Line 2: Great River means Yangtze River

Nanjing, a great city, had been the capital of six dynasties in Chinese history. Strategiests said this city was like a "crouching tiger", and a "curling dragon". Also can be in reference to Zhuge Liang's nickname of the crouching dragon.

Xiang Yu led the uprising that toppled the Qin dynasty. After winning the war against the Qin dynasty, Xiang Yu fought against Liu Bang for the control of China. Xiang Xu was defeated and killed. His story was recorded in the Beijing Opera The Hegemon-King Bids His Concubine Farewell. Upon destroying the Qin, one of his advisors advised Xiang to establish his capital in the same place as the Qin. When Xiang refused, the advisor mocked him as a "Crowned Monkey" (沐猴而冠). Xiang responded by executing the advisor by frying in hot oil.




= Reply to Mr. Liu Yazi (October 1950)

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Poems, "For Mr. Liu Yazi," dated 1949 and October 1950.
Line 1: "Crimson Land", similar to " Divine Land ", is another way Chinese people call their own country.
Line 5: "Yutian", a place in Xinjiang, here means far away places.




= Swimming (1956)

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Mao wrote "Swimming" in June 1956.: 11 

The poem's imagery contrasts the physicality and freedom of water with the limitations of Beijing.: 44 
The Great Stone Wall is one of the first references to the Three Gorges Dam. The Tortoise and the Snake refers to two mountains in Wuhan. He had previously referenced the two mountains in his previous poem The Yellow Crane Tower. The bridge in question completes the final section of the Beijing Guangzhou railway. The incomplete railroad was again referenced previously in the Yellow Crane Tower.
The poem evokes the changes intended to transform China through collectivization of agriculture and industrial production.: 11 




See also



Chinese poetry
Reply to Li Shuyi
Stalin's poetry




References






= Citations

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= Sources and further reading

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Short, Philip (2001). Mao: A Life. Owl Books. ISBN 978-0-8050-6638-8.
Ingalls, Jeremy (2013). Dragon in Ambush: The Art of War in the Poems of Mao Zedong. compiled and edited by Allen Wittenborn. Lanham, MD.: Lexington Books. ISBN 978-0-7391-7782-2.
Tay, C. N. (1970). "Two Poems of Mao Tse-Tung in the Light of Chinese Literary Tradition". The Journal of Asian Studies. 29 (3): 633–655. doi:10.2307/2943248. JSTOR 2943248. S2CID 162305238.
——— (1966). "From Snow to Plum Blossoms: A Commentary on Some Poems by Mao Tse-Tung". The Journal of Asian Studies. 25 (2): 287–303. doi:10.2307/2051329. JSTOR 2051329. S2CID 163282812.

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