Chairman Mao was good at poetry, and wrote many poems in his lifetime, mostly focusing on grand themes such as war, politics, and life, such as the well-known works such as "Qinyuan Spring and Snow", "Seven Laws and Long March", "Xijiangyue, Jinggangshan" and so on.
Among Chairman Mao's poems, two poems are very special, with the theme of the people's medical health, which is particularly valuable in today's context.
These two poems are "Seven Laws and Two Songs: Sending the Plague God".
At the beginning of these two poems, Chairman Mao also wrote an introduction: "Reading the People's Daily on June 30, Yujiang County eliminated schistosomiasis. Imagination, can't sleep at night. The breeze is blowing, the rising sun is near the window, looking at the southern sky, gladly ordering the pen. ”
It was on June 30, 1958, when the People's Daily published a press release reporting on the great achievements in the eradication of schistosomiasis in Yujiang County, Jiangxi Province. Looking at the southern sky from afar, I gladly ordered the pen", and wrote two poems "Sending the Plague God" to enjoy:
One
Green water and green mountains are self-defeating, Hua Tuo helpless little worm He!
Thousands of villages are left behind, and thousands of xiaoshu ghosts sing.
Sit on the ground and travel eighty thousand miles a day, survey the sky and look at a thousand rivers.
Niu Lang wanted to ask about the plague god, just as sad and happy as the waves of death.
Second
There are thousands of spring wind willows, and 600 million Shenzhou is shunyao.
The red rain turns into waves at will, and the green mountains turn into bridges.
Tianlian Wuling silver hoe fell, and the earth moved the three rivers iron arm to shake.
Asking the plague king where he wanted to go, the paper boat burned brightly in the sky.
These two poems, full of excitement and joy throughout, fully express Chairman Mao's joy at the eradication of schistosomiasis.
After dawn, Chairman Mao was still unsatisfied, and wrote a letter to Hu Qiaomu, writing: "I can't sleep, I wrote two propaganda poems, written for the eradication of schistosomiasis. ...... Killing schistosomiasis is a vicious battle. In the poem, sitting on the ground, surveying the sky, red rain, three rivers and the like, some people may not understand it, you can ignore him. After a while, I may have to explain a little. ”
Schistosomiasis is a chronic parasitic disease caused by schistosomiasis of the genus Schistosomiasis, which has existed in China for more than 2,000 years, such as Ge Hong of the Jin Dynasty in the "Elbow Reserve Emergency" recorded: "Water poison in people ... The first cold, the slight pain in the head, the pain in the eyes... Insects eat five internal organs, and the heat is extremely annoying. Bet on the can't help it, eight or nine days, good doctors can not be cured. ”
People with schistosomiasis will become huge stomachs, thin limbs, fever and cold, day by day more and more painful, but also infectious diseases, difficult to control, in the ancient times when medicine was not developed, people called this disease "plague god", "witch disease", "poison", "water poison" and so on.
After arriving at the founding of the People's Republic of China, schistosomiasis was still raging in various parts of the south, and after Chairman Mao visited the south in the summer of 1955, he found that the number of infected schistosomiasis was as high as more than 10 million, covering 12 provinces and cities. ”
Originally, Chairman Mao and everyone planned to eliminate schistosomiasis within 12 years, but they did not expect that after the correct prevention and treatment of the people of the whole country, by 1958, the leading group for the prevention and control of schistosomiasis had made a great breakthrough in Yujiang County, Jiangxi, where schistosomiasis was the most serious, and completely eliminated schistosomiasis!
On June 30, 1958, Chairman Mao saw a press release in the People's Daily: "The First Red Flag -- Remembering the Process of The Radical Eradication of Schistosomiasis in Yujiang County, Jiangxi Province.", and his heart was very happy, and his joy overflowed with words.
According to the recollection of Chairman Mao's personal guard, Feng Yaosong, after reading the newspaper, Chairman Mao stood up and walked to the window, took a deep breath, and then lay down on the bed again.
First look at the first poem, the first sentence "Green water and green mountains are self-defeating, Hua Tuo helpless little worm He!" This means that there are so many green waters and green mountains in the south, but there is no race, because people are harmed by schistosomiasis and are worse off than dead, where is the strength to cultivate the land? And this kind of small bug, even if Hua Tuo came, there was nothing to do.
The opening sentence writes how rampant schistosomiasis is!
The second sentence, "Thousands of villages are left behind by the people of Xueli, and thousands of households are singing", which means that people in thousands of villages have become weak and weak, and the villages are full of weeds and no one can clean up, and excrement is everywhere; tens of thousands of households are like ghosts crying and wailing, lifeless.
This sentence further writes about the harm of schistosomiasis and the tragic situation of ordinary people's lives.
The third sentence, "Sit on the ground and travel eighty thousand miles a day, and survey the sky to see a thousand rivers from afar", which means that the common people are suffering from diseases and sit on the ground every day hoping that someone will come to save them, but the rapid passage of time has brought them closer and closer to death.
The fourth sentence, "Niu Lang wants to ask about the plague god, just as sad and happy disappears", which means that after the cowherd asked about the "plague god" on the same day, Chairman Mao told him that the "plague god" had passed away like flowing water and disappeared completely.
This last verse represents the end of the suffering of the common people, ushering in a new beginning, and is also the starting point of the second poem.
The second poem describes that the masses of the people of New China, under the leadership of the party, finally sent away the "plague god", got rid of the plague of disease, and ushered in a new life.
The first sentence "Spring wind willow thousands, 600 million Shenzhou Shunyao", meaning that the spring wind represents the new life, represents the end of the cold winter, the beautiful scene of the new birth and prosperity of all things, at the same time, the schistosomiasis that was originally planned to be eradicated in 12 years has completed the goal in just two years, and the people of the land of Shenzhou are as witty and brave as Shunyao and have created a miracle!
In the second sentence, "The red rain turns into waves at will, and the green mountains turn into bridges with intentions," and the third sentence, "The silver hoe of the five ridges in the sky falls, and the earth moves the iron arms of the three rivers, and Chairman Mao borrows the scenery and landscape to reflect the fighting spirit and pride of the masses of the people who are not afraid of the ravages of nature and dare to transform nature and change their destiny.
The last sentence, "By asking the plague king where he wants to go, the paper boat is burning in the sky" is Chairman Mao's ridicule of the loser of the "plague god", where else can you go? No matter where you go, our people have prepared paper boats and candles to illuminate the sky and send you back to heaven!
These two poems, which contain both myths and legends, folk tales, and the pride of the masses of the people fighting against the world and the earth, are full of revolutionary romanticism and reflect the great feat of the masses of the people in eliminating schistosomiasis!
Chairman Mao has always advocated that literary creation should serve the common people, and these two poems, "Sending the Plague God," are classic works that truly reflect the lives of the people, and truly achieve "writing for the times and doing things for the sake of things."
(References: Appreciation of Mao Zedong's Poetry, Interpretation of Mao Zedong's Poetry, People's Daily)