–Mao Zedong, February 1961 Bright, brave, and keen with five-foot gun in hand,First light of dawn gilds the training ground.China’s sons and daughters hold lofty, bold command –They love arms, not rouge, their warrior hearts unbound.
–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, 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.
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 O’er Purple Mountain, storms surge sudden, wild and gray;A million mighty troops cross the great Yangtze.Like tiger crouched, dragon coiled, the city shines todayFar brighter than past days; earth turns, heaven realigns –Hearts swell with joy, with triumph’s grand designs.Strike on with leftover might, chase the routed foe;Don’t fish…
–Mao Zedong, December 1936 Red flags on walls in sunset glow,West winds sweep o’er the lone fort’s brow.Bao’an sees new faces all around.In cave-halls feasts abound,For one just freed from prison’s bound.
–Mao Zedong – October 1935 The sky so high, clouds thin and light,We watch wild geese fly south out of sight.None but a hero reaches the Great Wall;We count – twenty thousand li we’ve hauled.On Six Coiled Mountain’s crest so tall,Red flags stream wide in western wind’s call.Long cords in our hands today we…
–Mao Zedong, 1934–1935 (On the Long March) I Peaks!On galloping steeds we ride, never weak.Look back – we standThree feet from Heaven’s hand.
–Mao Zedong – Summer 1934 Dawn breaks o’er eastern sky;Think not you’re first to rise and try.We’ve trod green hills, yet never old;This scene outshines all sights untold.