–Mao Zedong, December 26, 1962 Snow weighs on winter clouds; white downflakes fly,Myriad blooms fade fast, now rare and shy.High heaven’s icy currents roll and roar,Yet earth breathes soft warm winds, hope’s gentle core.
–Mao Zedong – 1961 Above Mount Jiuyi, white clouds fleet and fly,The imperial maidens ride the wind down from the sky.A speckled bamboo branch holds a thousand tears, nigh;Ten thousand rosy clouds form a hundred layers high.
–Mao Zedong, February 1936 Behold the northern land’s grand view:A thousand leagues locked in ice and frost,Ten thousand leagues where snowflakes lostIn whirling flight the sky bestrew.Great Wall stretches far, beyond and near;One vast white waste alone appears.The Yellow River’s mighty tideFrom source to sea is stilled, dried.Mountains like silver serpents glide;Plains like waxen…
–Mao Zedong, 1935 Heaven-piercing, primeval, vast Kunlun stands,Bearing all the springs of mortal lands.Three million jade dragons soar on high,Chilling all the sky to ice and sky.Summer thaws; floods o’er rivers swell,Men to fishes’ prey in depths may dwell.Who has dared judge, through ages old,Thy good and ill, thy story untold?
–Mao Zedong, 1935 The Red Army fears not the Long March’s strife;Ten thousand streams and hills are light in life.The Five Ranges twist like ripples small;The Wumeng peaks vast as mud balls fall.Golden Sand’s waves beat warm cliffs on high;Cold iron chains span Dadu’s bridge nigh.We joy to see Min Shan’s snow for miles;Our…
— Mao Zedong, February 1930 The whole sky turns white;We march through snow, our purpose burning bright.High mountains o’er our head,We storm great passes, red flags by wind widespread.
— Du Fu Two golden orioles sing amid the emerald willows; A line of white egrets fly into the blue sky. My window frames the thousand-year snow atop western ranges; My door frames mooring ships ready for their thousand-mile voyage to Eastern Wu.