In 1972, chairman Mao, at Nixon's request, picked up a pen and ink on the spot and wrote a letter to him, it is understood that this ink treasure has only 12 words, the content is: "The old man sits on the stool, Chang'e runs to the moon, and walks and watches the flowers." ”
The three idioms seem ordinary in the eyes of ordinary people, and the literal meaning alone is easy to understand, but what is its deep meaning, to this day, no Chinese and foreign scholars, no one can correctly explain the meaning, it is only a guess at the meaning.
That year, WHEN US President Richard Nixon visited China, the news caused a sensation in the world, because no one could have expected that China and the United States would be able to break the ice and carry out peaceful exchanges. During the visit, in order to show sincerity, the US side brought seven gifts to China, and afterwards, China also carefully selected gifts as a gift in return. Among them, there is a gift that makes the world puzzled and still cannot understand the meaning, and this gift is the 12-character ink treasure written by Chairman Mao himself.
In history, China and the United States have had many head-to-head confrontations, the most impressive of which was the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea in 1950, and the victory of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, which made the United States at that time have admiration for China.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the international situation resurfaced, and the United States and the Soviet Union competed for hegemony. Countries around the world have begun to establish friendly diplomatic relations and warm up in groups, so as to safeguard their own interests and promote national development.
At first, China, as a socialist country, sided with the Soviet Union and opposed the capitalist camp led by the United States. In the early 1950s, China and the Soviet Union carried out friendly cooperation, and the Soviet Union provided friendly assistance to China in all aspects to help China develop. In the late 1960s, after the outbreak of the Treasure Island incident, Sino-Soviet relations broke down, and the two countries moved from cooperation to confrontation, which provided an opportunity for the transformation of Sino-US relations and just promoted the establishment of friendly diplomatic relations with the United States.
Due to the grim international situation, the United States and the Soviet Union are opposed, and China is attacked by the enemy. One more enemy is not as good as one less, so it is necessary to take a stand in order to protect the national security of the country.
After Sino-Soviet relations deteriorated, the Soviet Union also provoked China with war, vowing to carry out a "surgical nuclear strike" against China, hoping to make China feel afraid of this. At this time, for the sake of national interests, the United States intended to draw China together against the Soviet Union and frequently made overtures to China.
As the leader of the country, Chairman Mao was deeply aware of the stakes involved, and in order to safeguard national security and stabilize the situation, he began to discuss countermeasures with other leaders.
One night, in Zhongnanhai, Chairman Mao said to Premier Zhou: "We are now enemies on both sides, and we cannot confront each other hard, we can only turn to one side to defend ourselves... We can't go it alone."
"Yes, we should discuss countermeasures." Premier Zhou responded.
Subsequently, Chairman Mao ordered Premier Zhou, He Long, Ye Jianying, and others to discuss Sino-US relations and analyze the feasibility of Sino-US cooperation and the advantages and disadvantages of it.
Discussions agreed that Strategically, China can stand on the same front as the United States.
In fact, as early as 1969, the United States was already hinting at China its military strategy and wanted to cooperate with China. In addition, Nixon said in an interview that in his lifetime, the most important place to go is China.
Of course, the Chinese side has also made corresponding efforts to improve the relations between the two countries.
On October 1, 1970, a grand celebration ceremony was held in Tiananmen Square, and Chairman Mao invited the American journalist Snow to climb the city tower to watch the parade, and also made it clear in his speech that the whole world, including the American people, are good friends of China.
Unfortunately, China's move did not have the desired effect, and the United States did not grasp the meaning until a table tennis match was held, which brought the two countries closer.
In 1971, the 31st World Table Tennis Championships was held in Japan, and China sent a delegation to participate. On the field, the unrivalled skills of the Chinese delegation deeply attracted American players, making American players look forward to going to China for table tennis training, hoping to improve their skills.
When the news reached China, Chairman Mao began to make calculations, and finally decided to invite the American team to visit China to further bring the relationship between China and the United States closer.
This "ping-pong diplomacy" directly promoted the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States.
In February 1972, Nixon and his wife flew to China, Sino-US relations began to change, and the 20-year "history of severing diplomatic relations" came to an end.
In February in Beijing, it is spring, the weather is cold, but the hearts of the people are hot, and people are full of expectations for President Nixon's visit.
At that time, the leader in charge of the greeting was Premier Zhou, and when shaking hands, the prime minister said to Nixon: "Your hand has crossed the world's most vast Pacific Ocean, but we have not interacted for twenty-five years!" ”
In the afternoon, Nixon went to Zhongnanhai to visit Chairman Mao, and the original fifteen-minute meeting lasted for an hour without interruption, and the two had endless topics of conversation in philosophy, and in the process, Nixon also saw Chairman Mao's mind, ambition, and intellectual ability, and gained a new understanding of Chairman Mao.
To make a guest visit, you need to prepare gifts, which is a truth that both China and the West agree. It is said that Nixon went to great lengths to prepare before visiting China and finally selected seven gifts. With a detailed list of Lost Treasures in China, a pair of musk oxen and two American sequoia trees, Nixon prepared other gifts for Chairman Mao, namely goblets, ceramic swans, his own business cards, and beautiful vases made of glass.
In fact, there was a small episode in the process, the swan who was regarded as a "national gift" accidentally broke one of the wings during the transportation process, due to the rush of time, it was too late to re-prepare, the staff had to glue it back, Nixon took it out after being slightly embarrassed, Chairman Mao quipped: "This is how Sino-US relations are connected by you." "After saying that, the embarrassment was resolved in an instant.
In addition, the arrangement of the dinner party in China is extremely elaborate, even the cigarettes presented are painted with the giant panda, a unique protected animal in China, Mrs. Nixon saw it and shouted: "This giant panda is also too exquisite, really lifelike, but wonderful, I really like it." ”
Premier Zhou then said, "Madame likes, we will send you two giant pandas." Under Premier Zhou's arrangement, the "giant panda" was the first gift from China. China's unique "panda diplomacy" began here.
In addition to panda brand cigarettes, of course, China's Moutai wine. At that time, foreign countries were drinking red wine, champagne and other wine, never drank white wine, Nixon drank, surprised: "There are still such wonderful things in the world..." Subsequently, Maotai also gave Nixon as a gift.
In addition to the giant panda and Moutai wine, Chairman Mao also sent Nixon four or two tea leaves, Nixon saw it, his face was ugly, Chairman Mao saw the situation, and also understood what he was thinking, and then Premier Zhou explained: "You don't look at these four or two tea leaves, in fact, it is already half of the country." ”
At this time, Nixon was very puzzled, still confused, premier Zhou explained: "The production of tea of this variety is very small, resulting in its very precious, so small that it can only produce eight two, Chairman Mao there is only eight two, so this is half of the country, the weight is very large." After nixon listened to the explanation, he suddenly realized and gladly accepted it at the same time.
After the gifts were delivered, Nixon asked Chairman Mao to write a copy for himself and bring it back.
When Nixon was in the United States, he heard that Chairman Mao was an excellent poet and calligrapher, so he wanted to see Chairman Mao's calligraphy and bring it back to the United States as a gift.
Chairman Mao did not refuse, picked up the pen and ink and began to write, writing a total of 12 words.
In just 12 words, Chairman Mao did not explain the meaning after writing it, and Nixon was also confused, and no one could understand the true meaning.
What is the meaning of the 12-character ink treasure, it is still difficult to have a correct conclusion.
Ross Trier is a well-known American scholar who has studied and understood Mao Zedong very well, and has published many famous research books on Mao Zedong, which has great influence.
As an American scholar, he analyzed this ink treasure and gave his own insights.
In her opinion, the first idiom refers to Nixon living in the United States, just blindly immersed in the good, unaware that the world is changing, satirizing him like a frog in a well, without far-reaching insights.
The second idiom, referring to the smooth launch of China's space project, Dongfanghong I, indicates that China has a tough military strength and can catch up with the United States.
The third idiom refers to nixon's short visit to China, like a sloppy flower, and he can't understand any useful information.
Of course, this is only Ross Trier's personal opinion, and the true meaning of it is still unknown.
In this regard, some Chinese scholars have made a more reasonable explanation for this, which is completely contrary to the views of American scholars, and the specific analysis is as follows:
First, the "old man" refers to Chairman Mao himself, which means that in the face of the internationally changing situation, he is calm and self-confident enough to face the unknown challenge.
Second, "Chang'e" refers to the U.S. lunar exploration project, which is a compliment to American technology, while Chairman Mao hinted that China will not catch up sooner or later after becoming a human being.
Third, this is not a satire on Nixon, but a reflection on the visit. During Nixon's visit to China, the brief conversation between the two sides did not play a very good role in communication, and the deep exchanges still needed to rely on close contact in the future.
Obviously, compared with the explanation of the American scholar Ross Trier, the analysis of the true meaning of these 12 words of ink treasure by Chinese scholars is more appropriate, and it is also in line with Chairman Mao's heart at that time.
In 1972, Nixon visited China, breaking the confrontation between China and the United States for 20 years and establishing diplomatic relations since then, thus promoting the development of the international community. In the process, these 12-character ink treasures also provided Chinese and foreign scholars with research topics, and at the same time, they also showed the world Chairman Mao's profound knowledge.