Chairman Mao and Kissinger
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At 11:30 p.m. on February 17, 1973, during a conversation with Kissinger, Mao Zedong said: "I heard that there was a rumor outside that I was learning English, and I knew a few English words; but I didn't understand grammar. ”
Kissinger responded to Chairman Mao's modest remarks: "The chairman invented an English word. ”
Mao Zedong also cheerfully admitted and replied to this, although he knew that the word was not a compliment to them.
But Kissinger knew right away that it was them and took a seat.
What exactly is this word? Can the former SECRETARy of State of the United States personally admit it and dare not refute it?
Moreover, this word was indeed coined by Chairman Mao, and it can also describe US imperialism, as to why former US Secretary of State Kissinger can be happily admitted and then seated, the story of this is long.
01
As early as 1939, when the famous American journalist Snow returned to Yan'an, Snow gave Mao Zedong a new book of his own -- "Red Star Over China."
In the 1930s, American journalist Snow was interviewing in Yan'an.
Snow was confused when he saw the words, didn't know what they meant, and then wrote a question mark on the note.
Mao Zedong did not reply directly to Snow, but smiled silently. Snow lowered his head and read it again, and it turned out that the sentence meant "Thank you very much." At that time, Mao Zedong probably did not know how to write English words, so he wrote this sentence in Chinese according to the pronunciation of English.
Mao Zedong and Snow in Yan'an
Many people may still think that Chairman Mao only began to learn English in his later years. In fact, Chairman Mao began to contact English very early.
Even Premier Zhou Enlai once said: "Chairman Mao knows much more English words than I do." "It's not a compliment or a courtesy.
It is mentioned in the "Biography of Mao Zedong" by the American scholar Ross Trier: When Mao Zedong left his hometown in Shaoshan in 1910 and entered the Dongshan Primary School in Xiangxiang County, Mao Zedong had already begun to contact English, which was a new school, where there was a study abroad teacher who taught English and music.
02
It was not until August 6, 1946, that Mao Zedong met the American journalist Anna Louis Strong in Yan'an, and there were two other people who went with him, lu Dingyi, director of the Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Committee, who also served as a temporary translator, and Ma Haide, an American medical doctor who had worked in Yan'an for a long time. At that time, it was Lu Dingyi who was responsible for translating for Mao Zedong.
Ms. Anna Louis Strong
Briefly speaking of Ma Haid, the American. He was introduced by Soong Ching Ling in July 1936, then went with Snow to northern Shaanxi, and joined the Communist Party of China on February 10, 1937.
Ma Haid
At that time, in the eyes of the outside world, the situation of the Communist Party of China was not optimistic, at that time, the End of World War II had just ended, and the country had just ended the eight-year War of Resistance, but Chiang Kai-shek tore up the armistice agreement and the CPPCC agreement, and blatantly launched an attack like the Central Plains Liberated Areas.
In the face of the grim form of the enemy being strong and the enemy weak, it was next to the stone table in front of the Yangjialing cave in Yan'an that the American journalist and Mao Zedong talked together about the changes in the international pattern after World War II, in which Chairman Mao also published his famous thesis, that is, "All reactionaries are paper tigers!" ”
The stone table in front of the Yangjialing cave in Yan'an
When the Strong reporter asked Mao Zedong how to see whether the United States would use the atomic bomb, Mao Zedong responded with this paragraph: "The atomic bomb is a paper tiger used by the American reactionaries to scare people, which looks terrible, but in fact it is not terrible." Of course, the atomic bomb was a weapon of mass murder, but it was the people who decided to win or lose the war, not one or two new weapons. ”
All reactionaries are paper tigers
"All reactionaries are paper tigers. It may seem terrible that the reactionaries look, but in reality there is no great power. From a long-term point of view, the really powerful forces do not belong to the reactionaries, but to the people. ”
"In the case of China, we rely only on the millet plus rifle, but history will eventually prove that this millet plus rifle is stronger than Chiang Kai-shek's aircraft and tanks." Although there are still many difficulties before the Chinese people, Chinese will suffer for a long time under the joint offensive of American imperialism and the Chinese reactionaries, these reactionaries will one day be defeated, and we will one day win. The reason for this is nothing else, but that the reactionaries represent reaction, and we represent progress. ”
Victory belongs to the people
However, because the term "paper tiger" is a spoken Chinese language and the first coin of Comrade Mao Zedong, there was no corresponding word in the English grammar at that time, and Lu Dingyi at that time may have not understood the meaning of the chairman for a while, so he was hastily translated as "scarecrow." And the word should have meant scarecrow.
At that time, Neither Lu Dingyi nor the female reporter felt that there was any problem, probably because they did not understand Chairman Mao's meaning, but Mao Zedong felt the difference, because Mao Zedong also had a certain foundation in English words, knew the words newspaper and tiger, but these two words did not appear in Lu Dingyi's translation, so he took the initiative to ask Lu Dingyi what the situation was.
Lu Dingyi gave his own explanation after hearing the chairman's inquiry, "scarecrow" refers to the scarecrows that people put in rice fields and drive away crows.
Mao Zedong was obviously not satisfied with this, because what he meant by "paper tiger" did not mean this at all, so after thinking for a moment, Mao Zedong gave his own explanation: No, "scarecrow" is a human form made of straw, which is used to scare crows. The "paper tiger" I mean is a paper tiger that is used to scare children. It looked terrible, but it softened when it hit the tide, and it rotted when it rained, and it should be "Papertiger" in English. ”
The day after this idea was put forward, the word and Mao Zedong's famous statement quickly spread around the world with Strong's report. Because the "paper tiger" is very creative and strategic wisdom, it has spread rapidly at home and abroad, and the word "Paper-Tiger" has played a very huge role in it.
Mao Zedong was also very satisfied with his invention, until later, in November 1957, Mao Zedong led a Chinese delegation to Moscow, Soviet Union, to participate in the celebration of the fortieth anniversary of the October Revolution. He also elaborated on the "paper tiger" issue in his speech at the Congress of representatives of the Sixty-Four Communist and Workers' Parties in Moscow, and recalled his "paper tiger" thesis in 1946 with the American journalist Strong.
In this regard, Li Yueran, an accompanying translator who accompanied Chairman Mao, recalled in "From Zhongnanhai to the Kremlin : Memories of Comrade Mao Zedong as an Interpreter": "Once, he (Mao Zedong) suddenly asked me: 'What does the Russian paper tiger say?'" After I answered, he repeated it in English, 'Papertiger.' His Hunan township voice was very heavy, and he walked away in a serious manner, and I couldn't help but laugh out loud. So the chairman laughed too. ”
Translating Lee Yueran
So who is the name of this "paper tiger"?
03
When the time came to the period of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, after the arduous battles in the early stages, it was basically the US army's defeat and retreat in the future, until later after the Battle of Chosin Lake, the news of the continuous victory of the volunteer army on the eastern and western fronts reached the United States, which was called "the most tragic and humiliating defeat since the Pearl Harbor incident." ”
Judging from the war situation of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea at that time, the probability of the US military using atomic bombs to retaliate against our volunteer army was very large, and it was not like simply scaring and scaring people.
Faced with such a grim situation, Mao Zedong said meaningfully: The atomic bomb is a "paper tiger."
You know, as early as August and September 1950, the US military drove B-29 bombers to Guam, the purpose is to "deter" China not to move, at that time there were many people who thought: What if the US atomic bomb is really aimed at Chinese?
U.S. military aircraft
On September 5, Mao Zedong proposed at the ninth meeting of the Central People's Government:
The enemy is not terrible, its pretense and momentum are frightening. But U.S. imperialism may also be chaotic today, it can do anything. If it's going to do that, we don't have to prepare anything, we're going to deal with it when we're ready. Our Chinese are used to fighting, and our desire is not to fight, but if you must fight, we have to let you fight. You hit yours, I hit mine, you hit the atomic bomb, I hit the grenade, grab your weakness, follow you, and finally defeat you.
From this we can see the wisdom of Chairman Mao: Chairman Mao did not deny the great power of the atomic bomb, but he despised the enemies who tried to use the atomic bomb as a threat.
One of the reasons why Chairman Mao believes that the US atomic bomb is a "paper tiger" is that our army has long been familiar with the power of the atomic bomb and has made full preparations, and is not afraid of the US nuclear threat.
The first point is that the Korean battlefield was originally only a civil war between South Korea and North Korea, and the nature of the previous world anti-fascist war was different, and if the United States dropped atomic bombs in Korea, it would undoubtedly be unknown and would be blamed by the whole world.
And in August 1949, the Soviet Union also successfully developed the atomic bomb, breaking the U.S. nuclear monopoly in the world. The relationship between the two also makes the United States dare not act arbitrarily. Therefore, Chairman Mao accurately judged that the American atomic bomb was a "paper tiger." ”
Until November 30, with the fiasco of the "Polar Bear Regiment" personally awarded by US President Wilson, the 31st Regiment of the SEVENTH Division of the US Army, the regimental flag was captured by the volunteers, and the regimental commander, Colonel McLean, died in battle, all the news made US President Truman angry.
Flag of the "Polar Bear Regiment"
At the press conference that followed, a reporter asked him if he would consider using the atomic bomb on the Korean battlefield.
Truman's answer to this is that we have been actively considering the use of atomic bombs. As soon as this statement came out, it immediately shocked the world.
At that time, the whole world was afraid of the power of the atomic bomb, especially with the experience of Japan, and many people saw how China was prepared to respond to the nuclear threat of the United States.
In the face of the blatant nuclear threat of the United States, Chairman Mao did take it lightly, but clearly saw that this was just the bluff of the United States.
It turns out to be true.
Shelling of the Golden Gate
04
Even after the shelling of Kinmen, the Americans who felt that they had been punched in the face reacted quickly, and in just ten days or so, they mobilized 6 aircraft carriers, more than 40 destroyers and other military forces in the Taiwan Strait. John Dulles, then U.S. Secretary of State, after meeting with President Dwight Eisenhower in Newport, Rhode Island, also issued a threatening statement, in particular, Articles 2 and 6 have a particularly "paper tiger" intimidating connotation:
Our army shelled Kinmen
Article 2: The United States has a treaty obligation to help defend Taiwan (Formosa) from armed attack, and a joint congressional resolution authorizes the President to use the armed forces of the United States to secure and protect relevant positions such as Kinmen and Matsu.
Article 6: We have recognized that ensuring and protecting Kinmen and Matsu has become increasingly relevant to the defence of Taiwan. In fact, the Chinese Communists are also aware of this. The United States has made military deployments to take action that is both timely and effective once the President has made a decision.
However, Chairman Mao still regarded the other side as a "paper tiger," strategically despised and tactically attached importance to it. And soon in a later conversation with Brazilian journalists and Mrs. Duterre, he talked about the strategy of dealing with the United States:
Breaking down the superstitions of the West is a big thing that must be done in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. In our country, we must also continue to dispel this superstition. What I am saying is that imperialism must be strategically despised, and it is not counted as a paper tiger; but tactically and in every concrete work, it is necessary to attach importance to them and to take them seriously. Imperialism's transformation from a real tiger into a half-truth and a half-false tiger, and then into a completely false tiger, that is, a paper tiger, is a process of transformation of things to the opposite, and our task is to promote this process. Before the end of the process, the tiger may have to live for a while and still bite people. Therefore, to fight a tiger, you must punch one punch after another, pay attention to the boxing technique, and you cannot be careless.
It wasn't until 1975, when Mao Zedong and Kissinger met, that to Kissinger said, "The chairman invented an English word." Mao Zedong also admitted it cheerfully, and said, "Yes, I invented an English word, Paper Tiger." ”
Kissinger knew it wasn't a positive word, but had to take a seat: "Paper tiger." That's right, that's us. Then he laughed.
05
It lasted until the evening of October 21, 1975, when Chairman Mao and Kissinger met again, kissinger said, "We have some common enemies." Mao Zedong also replied directly in English, "Yes!" And it was written on paper.
Kissinger immediately responded to this: "I see that the chairman has made great progress in learning English!" At the same time, he also asked Mao Zedong to give him this note, and Mao Zedong also happily agreed to the other party's request.
From this, we can see chairman Mao's great man's great wisdom that makes people look up to the mountains, so that Americans who have always been arrogant and arrogant have to accept their title of "paper tigers". Such a charm, how many people in the world can do it?