Liberal Arts Blog — Did You Know That Mao Wrote Poetry? So What? Hitler Was A Painter And Vegetarian. But Mao Is Still Read And Recited In China. So What?
Liberal Arts Blog — Tuesday is the Joy of Literature, Language, Religion, and Culture Day
Today’s Topic: Did You Know That Mao Wrote Poetry? So what? Hitler was a painter and vegetarian. But Mao is still read and recited in China. So what?
Did you know that Mao’s poetry is still read and recited in China? I didn’t until an Uber driver from China told me last week while I was spending a few days in Los Angeles. Is his account accurate?
Below: a few notes on Mao’s poetry, specifically three: “Swimming,” “Snow,” and “Changsha”
Are you from China? Did you study or live there? Are any of his poems particularly worth remembering for any reason whatsoever?
Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
“SNOW” — his most famous poem, apparently. Written in 1936 after the long March, published in 1945 in Chongqing
1. My country’s northern scenery: A thousand li encased in ice, Ten thousand li of swirling snow. The noble Wall surrounded on both sides By only blank totality. The Yellow River’s epic stretch Locked into place, its torrents stilled. The mountains, dancing silver snakes, The highlands, charging elephants,Triumphantly competing with the heavens’ lofty height. And come a clear day, The land adorned with sunlight, draped in white, Seduces all who bear its sight.
2. That wondrous view, so dear and tender all at once, moved countless heroes, bowing from their waists, to pay their due homage. Alas, for Zheng of Qin and Wu of Han Grasped not the art of poetry, While Zong of Tang and Zu of Song Had not virile minds nor forms. A generation’s pride and joy,
The fierce and mighty Genghis Khan, knew only how to shoot the condors up above the steppes. They are but history, For those who seek a greater figure yet Must look toward this age alone.
NB: “Li Li or ri (Chinese: 里, lǐ, or 市里, shìlǐ), also known as the Chinese mile, is a traditional Chinese unit of distance. The li has varied considerably over time but was usually about one third of an English mile and now has a standardized length of a half-kilometer (500 meters or 1,640 feet or 0.311 miles). This is then divided into 1,500 chi or “Chinese feet.’”
Parenthetically: Mao’s 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 realists poets represented by Du Fu.” Is this true?
SNOW: A Portrait of the Great Wall
“SHUIDIAO GETOU — SWIMMING” — inscribed on a monument in Wuhan commemorating the victims of the great flood of 1954 — erected in 1969; text written to fit an ancient melody called “Shuidiao Getou;” Mao swam across the Yangtse in 1956, it took him two hours. The swim was repeated for propaganda purposes over the next 10 years — showing evidence of his vitality.
1. “In Changsha I drank the water of the Xiang. Now I savor the fish of Wuchang as I swim across the Ten Thousand league Chang Jiang, I gave above at the wide Welkin over the ancient Kingdom of Chu. Let the winds blow and waves wash up this wonderous view! Far surpassing idle strools in the courtyard in lieu, For today I am relaxed and mellow. Upon the river, the Master lamented, well and true: Thus like a current doth time flow!”
2. “Sails doth the wind fill, the Tortoise and the Snake lay still, Great plans doth we fulfill! A bridge flied from south to north, the deep chasm becomes a thoroughfare henceforth! To my west shall stand a great stone wall, and hold the clouds and rains of Mount Wu as they fall, a great lake shall rise in the high gorge! The Goddess of the Mountain shall stande tall, and marvel at the world we shall forge!
48. “Swimming” by Chairman Mao 《水调歌头·游泳》毛泽东
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JkRWhYxFIs
CHANGSHA (1925) — Orange Island is an island in the middle of Xiang River in Chansha, the capital of Hunan province, Mao attended Hunan First Normal University, around 1912–1917.” The statue below was erected in 2009.
1. In the autumn cold alone I stand As Northward the Xiang river flow; Upon the tip of Orange Island. Ten thousand hills in a crimson glow By their serried woods deep-dyed, Hundreds of barges row upon row
2. Over crystal clear waters they slide. High in the Heavens, Eagles sweep and soar In the limpid deep, fish glance and glide;
3. Milliards of creatures fight to be free, Under the frosty skies, cold to the core. Into the boundless void, I despair, To this vast realm I implore upon thee, The fate of this land is in whose care?
NB: I was here with a throng of peers Vivid yet those eventful months and years. Schoolmates, young as we were, At life’s full blossoming, our destinies we fulfill; Scholars we were, of spirit and will Carefree with youthful vigour
We point to our rivers and hills, Praise and denounce with our lettering skills, We cared not for fortune nor fame!
Remember the time if you could, How in the midstream torrent we stood And thus the speeding boats we did tame?”
Changsha — to the tune of Qin Yuan Chun-Mao Zedong
FOOTNOTE — HOW MANY DEATHS WAS MAO RESPONSIBLE FOR? WHAT SOURCE WOULD YOU TRUST? How about AI? How about Wikipedia? Well, if not, who?
1. Great Leap Forward (1956–1962): 15 to 55 million. Most commonly cited number: 45 million.
2. Cultural Revolution (1965–1976): 500,000 to 2 million.
3. First Years (1947–1956): 10- 20 million? violence against landlords and “enemies of the revolution”
NB: “The Black Book of Communism” (French version originally published in 1997, published in English by Harvard University Press in 1999) puts the number at 65 million — more than Stalin and Hitler combined. The Stalin estimate tends to hover around 20 million and Hitler 12 million. Any experts out there?
Poetry of Mao Zedong — Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_(unit)
Mao Zedong’s cult of personality — Wikipedia
The Legacy of Mao Zedong is Mass Murder
The Black Book of Communism — Wikipedia
QUOTE OF THE MONTH — Have you made your own Bible yet?
“Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
My spin — then periodically review, re-rank, and exchange your list with those you love. I call this the “Orion Exchange” because seven is about as many as any human can digest at a time. Game?
ATTACHMENTS BELOW:
#1 A graphic guide to justice (9 metaphors on one page).
#2 “39 Songs, Prayers, and Poems: the Keys to the Hearts of Seven Billion People” — Adams House Senior Common Room Presentation, (11/17/20)
NB: Palestine Orion (Decision) — let’s exchange Orions, let’s find Rumi’s field (“Beyond all ideas of right and wrong, there is a field. Meet me there” Rumi, 13 century Persian Sufi mystic)
THE LAST FOUR YEARS OF POSTS ORGANIZED THEMATICALLY INTO FOURTEEN BOOK-LENGTH PDFS:
PDF with headlines — Google Drive
Please share the coolest thing you learned this week related to words, language, literature, religion, culture.
Or, even better, the coolest or most important thing you learned in your life related to Words, Language, Literature (eg. quotes, poetry, vocabulary) that you have not yet shared.
This is your chance to make someone else’s day. Or to cement in your own mind something that you might otherwise forget. Or to think more deeply than otherwise about something dear to your heart. Continuity is key to depth of thought.
