Chapter 5 Seven Ancients Sending Uichiro Off to the East

Clouds open, Hengyue accumulates Yin, and Tianma, Phoenix, and Chunshu are in the spring. , The mountains and rivers were once full of wonder. , Kunpeng hitting the waves begins here. , The warship giant ship pointed eastward. Fortunately, it was blown thousands of miles by the east wind. , to see the universe as a meter. , the world is different from the king's reason. . , all the princes are mediocre. , Chongming has nothing to do with horses. , I will go back to Yajun. This poem was first published unofficially in the tenth issue of "Party History Research Materials" in 1979. It was provided by Luo Zhanglong in the article "Recalling Xinmin Society (from Hunan to Beijing)".

This article was written in 1918. It is the work of Comrade Mao Zedong in his youth, and it is also an earlier one of his leftover poems.In the previous two or three years, he met like-minded friends in the Changsha area, and later organized the Xinmin Society to engage in revolutionary activities.By reading this poem carefully, we can get a glimpse of Mao Zedong's study and work, feelings and ambitions in his youth, and at the same time deepen our understanding of the historical background and the situation of the times. During this period, the Japanese militarists took advantage of the outbreak of the European War and the Western powers were too busy to look around, and proposed to the Chinese government the "21" plan to destroy our country, which aroused the anti-Japanese patriotic movement of the people all over the country.Various factions of warlords in the country, under the control of imperialist forces such as Britain, the United States, and Japan, formed local separatist forces and continuously launched civil wars, bringing serious disasters to the people.At a time when the international situation is changing and internal and external troubles arise, a turning point for a new era is also emerging.The victory of the October Revolution and the birth of the world's first socialist country set up a new banner on the land of Tsarist Russia, the stubborn bastion of imperialism.A small number of secret organizations for studying Marxism in China emerged, which prepared ideologically and organizationally for the establishment of the Communist Party of China.The Xinmin Society was a revolutionary group established under such a background.

During this period, Mao Zedong published the article "The Great Union of the People" in the "Xiangjiang Review", advocating that the broad masses of the people be united to form a mighty army and carry out a revolutionary movement against imperialism and feudalism.Li Dazhao previously published two articles, "The Victory of the Common People" and "The Victory of Bolshevism" in "New Youth", enthusiastically praising the victory of the October Revolution. Now we can appreciate the original poem.The content of the original poem can be divided into three layers.The first ten sentences are one layer, pointing out the time when they saw off-the spring when the east wind is strong and the trees are verdant; the place of the event-Changsha, where the clouds on Hengyue Mountain and the Dongting River are flooding, and at the same time express their pride and aspirations.Not only are the pedestrians' long journeys against the waves, the farewell songs of those who see them off, and their youthful splendor and youth are fully represented, even the surrounding scenery is also dyed with a vibrant atmosphere, showing an indomitable spirit.This is a consistent feature of Mao Zedong's poetry.Although it has not reached the concise and clear tone of the later "Qinyuanchun·Snow" and "Qinyuanchun·Changsha", and the verses such as "Long March" and "Answer to Friends", they are consistent in spirit.The following eight sentences from "What's wrong with my husband" form a layer, discussing the world situation, physical and mental training, and confidence in the revolutionary cause, and expressing the pride and aspirations of these revolutionary youths is the main content of the whole poem.There are two points here that must be made clear first.One is that during the summer vacation of the previous year, Mao Zedong and a few friends went on foot to five counties of Changsha, Ningxiang, Anhua, Yiyang, and Yuanjiang to conduct rural surveys. By pioneering the way, it is not possible to regard "regarding one's own body and mind" as the personal cultivation of ordinary intellectuals.The second is that the words quoted in the poem and "Mencius" cannot be understood according to the original meaning of the tradition.When Mao Zedong read these ancient classics, he critically absorbed them, and flexibly used them in his creation, and he definitely did not copy their original meaning.The metaphor of Taicang Yimi means that the size and value of all things are relative, and we can only let it go naturally without any analysis. This is by no means the same thing as the ideological realm expressed in the poem to dare to take on the world's major events.Later, he wrote in the poem "Man Jianghong and Comrade Guo Moruo" that "a small world, a few flies hit the wall... To wipe out all harmful insects, there is no invincible", which expresses this point more clearly. "Mencius" said: "In five hundred years, there must be a king, and there must be a famous person in the world." It starts from the historical view that a born sage creates a generation of dynasties.The kings he mentioned refer to the founding emperors such as Shang Tang and Zhou Wu; the famous people refer to Yi Yin, Zhou Gong and other figures who assisted the emperors. This is completely different from the purpose of the Xinmin Society at that time to unite the people to transform China and the world.Later, Mao Zedong expressed his determination to dig mountains more clearly in "The Foolish Old Man Moves the Mountain": "We will also touch God. This God is not someone else, but the people of the whole of China." This is to criticize inheritance and bring forth the new, called The creative method of traditional culture serving the real revolution is not uncommon in Mao Zedong's poems.If you don't understand this point, it is easy to regard his great talent in revolutionary practice and his lofty ambition in poetry creation as the expression of emperor's thinking.The last four sentences show that their revolutionary friendship will not be cut off by the sea between Chongming and Tsushima, which is the third meaning.The two sentences are also used here, but with the addition of the revolutionary friendship of "the sword in Dongying has a book to return", it dilutes the negative emotions of the fantasy of abandoning the country and traveling far in the original book.

There are three points in this poem that deserve our attention.The first is its inspiration to today's young readers.Young people represent the new force of the society. Although they are immature, they are full of vitality.Because it conforms to the trend of history and the hope of the people, it will eventually mature and become stronger and overcome the decadent forces that are still relatively strong for the time being.With this kind of understanding, and constantly tempered in the revolutionary practice, we will establish the ambition of "seeing the universe as small as rice" and the aspiration of "everyday in the chest is always new and beautiful".Secondly, regardless of the revolutionary cause or scientific study, we must look at it from a distance and start at a close distance.Only by focusing on the distance can we have lofty goals and clear directions; only by working close can we proceed from reality and start from ourselves.At that time, the activities of the Xinmin Society were concentrated in Changsha, and their main idea was to exercise the body and mind in revolutionary practice.In the poem, the history and environment of Changsha are written so vigorously, and the body, mind and friendship of the revolutionary youth at that time are written so brilliantly, which reflects this spirit.Finally, I will talk about the genre and artistic achievement of this poem.This poem is written in the style of Qiyan Gufeng, referred to as Qigu.There are rhymes in the seven ancient times, and there is also a rhyme to the end.The seven ancient poems with one rhyme to the end are known for their unrestrained momentum, and talented young poets like to use them every time.Mao Zedong wrote a poem when he was young, and he still remembered two lines later: "If you are confident that you will live for two hundred years, you will be hit by water for three thousand miles." Judging from the rhythm of the sentences, the whole poem is also in seven archaic styles.The seven ancient poems with one rhyme to the end have many long rhymes, and it is not easy to write harmoniously. The predecessors often described it as "like the Yangtze River carrying mud and sand."Mao Zedong was still a young student at the time, and his poetry skills were not yet deep, and this poem also had mixed strengths and weaknesses in art.The advantage is that it is unrestrained and unrestrained, and it is done in one go. The disadvantage is that the meaning of the language will inevitably come back (such as the following six sentences of "What is the husband's mind?"), and the meaning of the words is not smooth.If we compare Mao Zedong's later poems in terms of art, it will be obvious whether they are superior or inferior.