–Mao Zedong, June 1959 Faint dreams of old days curse time’s swift flowing tide,My homeland’s scenes recall thirty-two years’ pride.Red flags unfurl; serf’s halberds rise far and wide,Black hands hold high tyrant’s whips, cruel and applied.
–Mao Zedong, July 1, 1958 PrefaceReading People’s Daily (June 30): Yujiang County has eradicated schistosomiasis.My thoughts soar; I cannot sleep.Soft breeze caresses; rising sun gilds the window.Gazing south, I joyfully take up my brush.
Hua Tuo (c. 145–208 CE) was a renowned physician of the late Eastern Han dynasty. His courtesy name was Yuanhua, and he was a native of Qiao County, Pei Commandery (present-day Bozhou, Anhui Province).
–Mao Zedong, May 11, 1957 I lost proud Yang; you lost brave Liu,Their souls like willow-catkins soar to heaven’s height anew.We ask Wu Gang: “What have you?”He brings sweet osmanthus wine, pure and true.
-Mao Zedong – June 1956 Just drunk of Changsha’s spring,Now taste Wuchang’s fish bring.Across Long River’s wide stretch I swing,Sky o’er Chu lands so vast and clear to sing.Let wind blow hard, waves wildly fling –Better than calm stroll in garden’s ring!Today my heart finds ease, light wing.Once by the stream, the Sage did…
–Mao Zedong, October 1955 The spring river vast and wide awhile doth stray;We climb tiered peaks, our vision cleared, far away.Wind from green isles bears surging waves astray;Rain from wild fields ascends the hills to stay.By wine cups, we laugh and talk – old friends still gay;Abroad, trivial strife like chicken–worm fray.Mourn not how…
–Mao Zedong, Summer 1954 Great rain pours on Youyan’s ancient land;White waves surge high to touch the sky’s broad span.Beyond Qinhuangdao, fishing boats once planned –Now lost in one vast wild and watery band.Where can they be, in this unending stand?
Version 1 (Oct 1950 – National Day) Long night shrouded China’s dark, unbroken sky;A century of fiends ran wild, passed by.Five hundred million people torn, denied.One cock’s crow bursts – day breaks, all darkness flies;From every land, sweet songs from Khotan rise.Poets’ joy soars high, unmatched, unties.
–Mao Zedong, April, 1949 Tea talks in Canton still fresh in my mind,Verses sought in Chongqing when leaves declined.Thirty-one years back to our native land,When flowers fall I read your writing grand.Beware too much grief that tears your frame;See all things wide with a long, calm aim.Do not say Kunming Lake’s waters are thin;Watching…