[Chairman Mao's Appraisal of Li Bai of the Literati of Past Dynasties]
Chairman Mao was a great poet of modern and modern times, writing poems with great momentum and swallowing up the ages, directly chasing Li Bai and Su Shi.
As one of the few romantic poets in history, Chairman Mao also had a very high evaluation of Li Bai, once saying: "Li Bai's poetry is the pinnacle of perfection, he is an unprecedented immortal artist, and no one in China can surpass the poetic talents of Li Bai and Du Fu." ”
Chairman Mao has loved Li Bai's poetry all his life, and it can be said that he has read it all his life, tasted it all his life, and used it all his life.
In September 1942, Chairman Mao invited Wu Yuzhang, Fan Wenlan, Ke Zhongping, and other people from cultural circles to discuss with them how to run the Liberation Daily well.
After dark, everyone went away with pleasure, only Ke Zhongping was still drinking, and Chairman Mao knew that he loved to drink, so he poured him a large bowl and said, "Drink, old Ke, there are fewer than a thousand glasses of wine for every confidant." ”
Ke Zhongping casually replied, "Words are not speculative for more than half a sentence." ”
Chairman Mao smiled, and then said: "Lanling fine wine tulips, jade bowls filled with amber light." ”
Ke Zhongping said to him again, "But so that the master can get drunk, I don't know where it is." ”
Chairman Mao was even happier, and said, "Old Ke, tonight is good, and the moon is as bright as day." ”
Ke Zhongping also said while drinking: "This is the Chairman's Autumn Night Feast Jujube Garden, which is better than the ancients' 'Spring Night Feast Peach and Plum Garden'!" ”
The two of them came and went, and they talked to Li Bai's "Spring Night Feast Peach and Plum Garden Sequence", which is not bad at all, word for word, which shows Chairman Mao's familiarity with Li Bai's works.
On March 23, 1948, Chairman Mao led the central organs to cross the Yellow River in the east, and in a very good mood, stood on the boat and recited Li Bai's "Will Enter the Wine": "The king is gone, the water of the Yellow River rises from the sky, and it flows to the sea and never returns..."
In fact, Chairman Mao not only liked to read Li Bai's poems himself, he often guided young people to read Li Bai's poems.
One day in March 1958, Chairman Mao crossed the Three Gorges by boat, chatted with the female crew member Xiao Shi, and asked her if the ship was going to pass through the White Emperor City, and Xiao Shi replied that he wanted to pass by.
Chairman Mao asked her if she would recite Li Bai's "Early White Emperor City," and Xiao Shi said no, and Chairman Mao smiled and said that I would teach you, so he recited it with her: "Among the clouds of the White Emperor, thousands of miles and rivers will return in one day, the apes on both sides of the strait cannot stop crying, and the light boat has passed through the Ten Thousand Heavy Mountains." It was not until the church stones were all carried down that Chairman Mao returned to the cabin satisfied.
After Mao Anying's death on the Korean battlefield, Chairman Mao was always very concerned about the physical condition of his daughter-in-law Liu Songlin, and in August 1959, he sent a letter to Liu Songlin in the midst of his busy schedule, writing: "Are you in better health?" Did my sister go to school? I'm fine, better than I was in Beijing. Ascend to the heights of the world, the vast river will not return. The yellow clouds are moving in the wind, and the white waves are flowing in the snow mountains. These are a few poems by Li Bai. When you are depressed, you can read some classical literature, which can play a role in dispelling sorrow and depression. I haven't seen it for a long time. ”
This is a poem by Li Bai, which Chairman Mao liked very much, "Lushan Ballad Sent to Lu Shi Yu YuXuanzhou", and during the Lushan Work Conference in 1961, Chairman Mao copied these four poems and gave them to the comrades of the Standing Committee to read, which showed his love for this poem.
According to research, Chairman Mao commented on 1662 poems in his lifetime, of which as many as 81 were commented on Li Bai, and many of them were commented on many times.
In the 12th issue of "Lookout" magazine in 1983, Mao Anqing and Shao Hua published a signed article "Recalling Dad's Diligent Reading and Calligraphy Practice", in which the two fondly recalled the bits and pieces of their time with Chairman Mao, and recalled Chairman Mao's evaluation of Li Bai's words: "The literary style is strange, the momentum is magnificent, and there is an atmosphere of unworldliness. This sentence is Chairman Mao's high appraisal of Li Bai.
In 1984, the Cultural Relics Publishing House published and distributed the "Selected Ancient Poems of Mao Zedong's Handwriting", which included a total of 117 ancient poems written by Chairman Mao, of which Li Bai had the most poems, a total of 14 poems, accounting for 12%.
"Shu Dao Difficulty" is Li Bai's famous passage through the ages, and it is also a poem that Chairman Mao likes very much, and has been mentioned many times.
In the early 1950s, the Central Committee held a meeting on the issue of intellectuals, chairman Mao personally attended, and when he met with Du Pengcheng, a representative of the literary and artistic circles, he learned that Du Pengcheng was experiencing life at the Baocheng Railway Construction Site, so he talked warmly with him and specifically talked about Li Bai, saying: "Li Bai's "Shu Dao Difficulty" is to write about the difficult scenes of the places where you are now working, but 'Shu Dao' will soon not be 'difficult'! ”
In 1975, chairman Mao said in a conversation with Lu Di, who was reading with him: "Li Bai's "Shu Dao Difficulty" is very well written, and some people make all kinds of speculations from the ideological aspect in order to improve their evaluation, but in fact, it is not necessary. Don't care about those controversies, this poem is mainly very artistic, who can write it as vividly as he did, it brings people into the magnificent mountains and rivers of the motherland, brings people into the magical and beautiful mythological world, and makes people feel as if they have reached the Shu Road of 'difficult to go to the blue sky'. ”
In this conversation, Chairman Mao raised the artistic value of "Shu Dao Difficulty" to the extreme, and also clarified the lofty status of this masterpiece in Chinese literature and poetry.
So, what is the embodiment of Chairman Mao's poem "all my life" to Li Bai?
Li Bai's poems are emotionally gushing and bold, free of nature, rich in imagination, rendering and exaggeration are very in place, this artistic temperament and challenging spirit, can resonate with Chairman Mao, therefore, in Chairman Mao's poems, many of them have been inspired by Li Bai and borrowed and used in their own poems.
For example, in Chairman Mao's "Greeting the Groom and Other Friends", there is a sentence "Wave your hand from Zi", which comes from Li Bai's "Send a Friend" of "Waving Your Hand to Go", don't look at it as a word difference, the meaning and situation in it are different, and the novelty in it is not self-evident.
For example, Chairman Mao's "Nian Nu Jiao Kunlun" has a sentence "Ande Leaning heaven to draw the sword", which is a use of "Ande Leaning On the Heavenly Sword" in Li Bai's "Song of the King of Lin'an River Festival". Chairman Mao added the verb "pumping" to it, making the whole sentence more majestic and powerful, and the pride of transforming the world and transforming nature instantly jumped on the paper!
Of course, Chairman Mao's evaluation of a person has always been objective and fair, and although he has great respect for Li Bai, he has not accepted it in its entirety, and there are still some criticisms.
In July 1973, chairman Mao, in a conversation with the staff, talked about Li Bai from Qin Shi Huang, saying: "A few decades ago, China's Chinese language textbooks said that Qin Shi Huang was good, the car was on the same track, the book was the same text, and the weights and measures were unified. It is Li Bai who talks about Qin Shi Huang, and the opening paragraph also says that he is great, 'The King of Qin swept Liuhe, and the tiger looked at He Xiongya!' Swinging his sword to break the clouds, the princes came to the west. Only two sentences were made at the end of the whole poem: "But see the three springs, the golden coffin buried cold ashes." That is to say, he is still dead. What about you Li Bai? I want to be an official! As a result, the army was charged in Guizhou, and it went to the White Emperor City, and the general pardon order came down. Thus, 'Chao Ci Bai Emperor Cai Yun'. In fact, he wanted to be an official. ”
In fact, this is also the limitation of Li Bai, although his personality is bold and uninhibited, he cannot avoid "learning and excelling", seeking officials everywhere, and even sparing no expense to shoot Han Jingzhou's horse ass, writing a meaty "Book with Han Jingzhou", just to seek an official and a half-job.
Chairman Mao despises this point very much, because Chairman Mao has been advocating a viewpoint all his life, that is, "serving the people."
(References: "Mao Zedong Chronicle", "Mao Zedong Poetry Story", "Mao Zedong's Poetry Endowment Life", "Speaking of Li Bai")
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