Chapter 84 Letter to Chen Yi[1]

(July 21, 1965) Comrade Chen Yi: You asked me to change the poem, I can't change it.Because I have never studied the five-character rhythm, nor have I published a five-character rhythm.Your masterpiece is majestic.It's just that it literally (formally) feels that there is a slight mismatch with the regulated poems.Because the poems should be flat and narrow, if they don't, they are not rhythmic poems.I think you are on this road, just like me, you have not yet started.I have occasionally written several Qilu poems, none of which I am satisfied with.Just like you know how to write free verse, I know a little bit about the lexicology of long and short sentences.Jianying [2] is good at seven rhythms, and Dong Lao [3] is good at five rhythms. If you want to learn rhythm poetry, you can ask them for advice.

Westbound Thousands of miles westward in a hurry, riding the wind to fly into space. Not because of the wingspan of a Peng, how can a bird pass through. There are thousands of bells of wine brewed from the sea, and thousands of green onions are cut from the mountains. The wind and thunder drive the earth, and there are relatives and friends everywhere.I only changed one song for you, and I am still very dissatisfied, the rest cannot be changed. Moreover, poetry needs to use images to think, and it cannot be said directly like prose, so the two methods of comparing and promoting cannot be used.Fu can also be used, such as Du Fu[4]'s "Northern Expedition", which can be described as "telling the facts and bluntly speaking"[5], but there are also comparisons and Xings in it. "Comparison is to compare this thing with another thing" [6], "Xinger is to say something else first to arouse the words chanted" [7].Han Yu[8] regards writing as poetry; some people say that he does not know poetry at all, which is too much, such as "Mountain Stone", "Hengyue", "August 15th Rewarding Zhang Gongcao", etc., are still acceptable.According to this, we can know that poetry is not easy.Most people in the Song Dynasty did not understand that poetry should be thought in images, which is contrary to the rules of the Tang people, so it tastes like chewing wax.Let's talk about the above casually, they are all classics.To compose modern poems, one must use the method of thinking in images to reflect class struggle and production struggle, and the classics must not be used.But writing poems in vernacular has not been successful for decades.There are some good folk songs.The future trend is likely to attract nourishment and form from folk songs, and develop into a new style of poetry that attracts a wide range of readers.Also, Li Bai[9] had only a few regulated poems, and Li He[10] did not write any of the seven-character regulated except for a few five-character regulated.Li He's poems are worth reading. Are you interested?

good luck! Mao Zedong July 21, 1965 According to the "Selected Letters of Mao Zedong" published by People's Publishing House in 1983. -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ note [1] Chen Yi, then Vice Premier of the State Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs.His poetry collection includes "Chen Yi Poems Anthology". [2] Jianying, namely Ye Jianying (1897-1986), was born in Meixian, Guangdong.At that time, he was vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, president and political commissar of the Academy of Military Sciences.His poetry collections include "Yuanwang Collection" and "Selected Poems of Ye Jianying".

[3] Dong Lao refers to Dong Biwu (1886-1975), a native of Huang'an (now Hong'an), Hubei.His poetry collection includes "Selected Poems of Dong Biwu". [4] Du Fu (July 12-770), courtesy name Zimei, was born in Gong County (now part of Henan) and was born in Xiangyang (now part of Hubei), a poet of the Tang Dynasty. [5] See Song Zhuxi's "Poetry Collection Biography Zhou Nan Ge Qin". [6] See Song Zhuxi's "Poetry Collection Biography · Zhou Nan · Katydids". [7] See Song Zhuxi's "Poetry Collection Biography Zhou Nan Guan Ju". [8] Han Yu, a writer and poet in the Tang Dynasty.

[9] Li Bai (701-762), courtesy name Taibai, was born in Suiye (located in the north of Kyrgyzstan), a poet of the Tang Dynasty. [10] Li He (790-816), courtesy name Changji, was born in Fuchang (now Yiyang, Henan), a poet of the Tang Dynasty.