On October 1, 1949, the Founding of New China ushered in a new era in China's diplomacy.
Mao Zedong was undoubtedly the founder of New China's diplomacy. As the founder of new China, Mao Zedong's lofty and far-sighted consideration of the international situation was breathtaking, especially his "poetry diplomacy", which opened a new chapter in the history of China's diplomacy.
On February 21, 1972, US President Richard Nixon visited China. At the welcome dinner that evening, Nixon quoted a passage from Mao Zedong's poem in his toast:
"Chairman Mao wrote, 'How many things, never urgent; Heaven and earth turn, and time is pressing. Ten thousand years is too long, only to fight for the day. Now is the time to race against the clock, the time for our peoples to climb to the heights of the great realm that can create a new and better world. ”
Nixon's sentiment is because he knows that China and the United States have gone through too many twists and turns in establishing diplomatic relations.
In the nearly 20 years since the founding of New China, China and the United States have generally been isolated and hostile.
At the end of the 1960s, the international situation underwent drastic changes. Ideological differences between China and the Soviet Union continued to expand, and China became a new force independent of the United States and the Soviet Union. At this time, the United States was caught in the quagmire of the Vietnam War.
By this time, China's diplomacy had begun to shift toward pragmatism and stability, and Mao Zedong saw that the Soviet Union was contacting Mongolia and India and wanted to form a siege of China, while the United States wanted to threaten China's security from the southeast.
Although China was not afraid of the United States and the Soviet Union, Mao Zedong knew that there was collusion between the United States and the Soviet Union, but the competition was also fierce, so Mao Zedong proposed to take advantage of the contradictions between the two superpowers to "strive for hegemony." Mao Zedong believed that the Soviet Union "posed a greater threat to the security of our country than the United States." In this case, Sino-US engagement is needed. The United States does not want to go to war with China. ”
The United States is also aware of the strategic importance of improving its China policy. Whether it wants to escape from the Vietnam War or regain an advantage in the competition against the Soviet Union, the United States must handle its relations with China well. In his foreign policy report, Nixon noted, "It is certainly in our interest to take the steps we can take toward improving our actual relationship with Beijing." ”
In October 1970, Nixon took advantage of the gathering of heads of state in Washington to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations to express to Pakistan that the United States would send a senior envoy to Beijing in secret.
On May 29, 1971, Zhou Enlai, on behalf of the Central Committee, replied:
"Chairman Mao Zedong welcomed President Nixon's visit and looked forward to a direct conversation with His Excellency the President at that time, in which the parties were free to raise their main concerns. Dr. Kissinger, as the representative of the United States, is welcome to hold preliminary secret talks with senior Chinese officials to prepare and make the necessary arrangements for President Nixon's visit to Beijing. ”
From July 9 to 11, 1971, Kissinger paid a secret visit to China, where the two sides discussed the international situation and Sino-US relations and reached an agreement on Nixon's visit to China.
On the morning of February 21, 1972, Nixon's Air Force One plane landed at Beijing Airport. Nixon descended the gangway and shook hands with the greeting Zhou Enlai, and a new era in Sino-American relations began.
In the afternoon, Mao Zedong received Nixon at the Juxiang Bookstore in Fortress Garden, and the two held each other's hands tightly, and Sino-US relations also opened a new chapter in this handshake.
After taking his seat, Mao Zedong jokingly said: "Our old mutual friend, Chairman Chiang Kai-shek, is not happy. ”
Nixon was about to answer when Mao waved his hand and said, "I'm old, formal questions, and It's up to En lai to talk to you at the negotiating table." Now, we are friends, and here we are only talking about philosophy. ”
Then, the 79-year-old Mao Zedong and Nixon talked about profound philosophical problems, and Nixon seemed to understand them, and he couldn't help but sigh in his heart: This old man really has profound wisdom and profound speculation!
That evening, our country hosted a grand welcome banquet for Nixon. At the banquet that night, everyone had three glasses in front of them, one filled with water, one filled with orange juice, and one glass of "Maotai" wine, which Americans call "white lightning."
Zhou Enlai introduced nixon to Nixon that the alcohol concentration of Moutai exceeded fifty percent, and could be lit, and personally lit a fire on the wine glass to show Nixon: "Mr. President, please see, the wine can really be lit on fire." (After returning to the White House, Nixon did the same, pouring Moutai wine into a bowl and lighting it, which almost burned the White House.) ）
Nixon was very interested in Moutai and raised his glass and said, "I will toast everyone with this wine!" ”
This can make the White House chief of staff, Hague, on the side, anxious.
Because Haig had come to Beijing with Kissinger to play the front station, he had learned the power of Moutai wine, and he was worried that Nixon, who was not good at drinking, would be ugly, but it was too late to stop it. Haig reflected on his dereliction of duty afterwards: "Under no circumstances should the president really drink the wine out of his glass during the dinner toast." ”
This time Nixon came to China, it can be said that he was well prepared. Out of diplomatic courtesy, he brought three gifts: a detailed latitude and longitude map of the sinking of the Japanese Awa Maru and a list of treasures on board, a pair of musk oxen, and two American fir trees from California.
On April 1, 1945, the ship sailed to the waters east of Niushan Island in Pingtan, Fujian Province, China, and was sunk by the US diving ship Queenfish, loading 40 tons of gold, 12 tons of platinum, about 40 boxes of jewelry and cultural relics, 3,000 tons of tin ingots, and 3,000 tons of rubber all sunk to the bottom of the sea.
It is said that China's national treasure, the fossil skull of the Peking man, was on this ship, and it sank to the bottom of the sea with the ship.
It was with this detailed latitude and longitude map of the sinking of the Awa Maru and a list of treasures on board that China formed a joint salvage team of the Navy and the Ministry of Transport five years later, and in May 1977, the shipwreck of the Awa Maru was salvaged.
A total of more than 600 divers participated in the operation, fishing for 5418 tons of tin ingots, rubber, mercury, niobium tantalum, mica, actinic glass and other materials, with a total value of more than 50 million yuan. Unfortunately, no fossil skulls of Kyojin have been found.
The two musk cows brought by Nixon died of illness after being sent to the Beijing Zoo due to water and soil incompatibility, and the two American sequoia trees also died, and the surviving one is now located in Hangzhou, which has become a historical witness to the transformation of Sino-US relations.
Nixon also brought Mao a personal gift: a porcelain swan. It was only because of the big grin of the Americans that the feathers of this swan broke on the plane, and the Americans had to use glue to stain the broken feathers.
Nixon also made a special explanation when handing over the swan to Mao Zedong, hoping that Mao Zedong would understand. Mao Zedong gave Nixon a pun and replied: "It's okay, didn't Sino-US relations also let you connect?" ”
Nixon did not drink too much tea, nor did he understand the preciousness of the "Big Red Robe", and he was a little unhappy for a while: he thought that Mao Zedong's gift was too light, and he did not value himself as the president of the United States.
Zhou Enlai saw Nixon's dissatisfaction and smiled and said with relief: "The chairman has already given you half of the country!" This tea is extremely precious, producing no more than eight or two a year, and the chairman has given you half of his belongings! ”
After listening to Zhou Enlai's explanation, Nixon finally let go. After collecting the tea leaves, he asked Mao Zedong for words, and Mao Zedong splashed ink on the spot and wrote 12 words to send to Nixon. These 12 words are: Lao Shu sits on the stool, Chang'e runs to the moon, and walks and watches the flowers.
Nixon was not a China expert, and certainly couldn't understand the meaning of these 12 words. He thought that there were many capable people under him, and there were many "China Masters", and after he went back to study slowly, he would always understand, so he did not ask Mao Zedong for advice on the meaning of these 12 words, so he accepted it with a smile.
In the days that followed, accompanied by Zhou Enlai, he happily browsed the Great Wall, Diaoyutai and the Beijing Zoo, and saw the giant pandas he had long wanted.
When visiting the Great Wall, it was snowing heavily. Nixon and his wife ascended the beacon and recited Mao Zedong's "Qinyuan Spring and Snow" again. After the chant, Nixon made a request for an English copy of Mao Zedong's Poems.
After the founding of New China, with the publication of Mao Zedong's poetry collections, his poetry also attracted the attention of many countries in the world.
As the famous translator Ye Junjian said: "Mao Zedong's poetry is widely circulated in the world, I am afraid that it is more widespread than the "Selected Works of Mao Zedong" itself. Because as a literary masterpiece, it is of high value and strong mass nature, and as far away as Paraguay in South America and Greece in the mediterranean corner have translations of Mao Zedong's poems. ”
After Nixon returned to the United States, he gathered a group of China passes to interpret the 12 words sent by Mao Zedong, but the meaning of these Chinese passes was extremely divergent, and opinions could not be unified at all, and Nixon never understood what medicine Mao Zedong was selling in the gourd.
Nixon's wish was met two years later. In the autumn of 1974, after repeated deliberations, the team for the finalization of the English translation of Mao Zedong's poems selected 39 poems of Mao Zedong and designed them into 8 hardcover deluxe editions with brocade envelopes, which were forwarded by Qiao Guanhua to Nixon.
Mao Zedong had long anticipated this. When he inspected the troops in Wuhan, he once said to the cadres of the troops: Nixon certainly did not understand the meaning of what I wrote.
Unfortunately, Mao Zedong did not personally explain the meaning of these twelve words, so posterity can only make all kinds of speculations.
Ross Trier, a well-known American expert on China, explained these twelve words as follows: The "old man" in "Lao Sorcerer's bench" refers to the United States, and sitting on the stool implies the meaning of "sitting in the well and watching the sky", which refers to the fact that the United States does not know that the world situation has changed, and still wants to blockade China, which will only bring failure.
The "Chang'e" in "Chang'e Running Moon" refers to China's first artificial earth satellite "Dongfanghong I" successfully launched at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on April 24, 1970, indicating that China's scientific and technological strength is gradually becoming stronger;
"Looking at the flowers" refers to the fact that although Nixon visited China, this kind of visit that was "like a horse watching the flowers" certainly could not understand China's true strength, and Mao Zedong used these four words to warn the United States to pay good attention to China and not to think of China as a weak and deceitful country.
This explanation seems reasonable and has been endorsed by the United States.
But at home, many scholars interpret it differently from Americans.
These scholars believe that the "lao soo" in "Lao Sou sitting on the stool" is Chairman Mao's modest name, saying that Lao Soo is sitting on a stool, and what he wants to express is a political gesture, that is, the leader of New China can face the president of the world's first superpower, and instead of standing up on his knees to greet him, he can sit firmly on the Diaoyutai and wait for the other party's initiative to visit.
These four words reflect the self-esteem and self-confidence of the Chinese nation, as well as Mao Zedong's domineering spirit of looking at the world.
"Chang'e Running to the Moon" refers not only to "Dongfanghong I", but also to nixon's praise for americans who landed on the moon on Apollo 11 during Nixon's tenure. In any case, this is the first time that human beings have set foot on the moon, which represents the progress of science and technology of the entire human race. In addition, these four words have another meaning, which is to compare Nixon's visit to China to Chang'e Running Moon.
The United States is Chang'e, and China is the bright moon, which is a symbol of light, implying Mao Zedong's desire for the United States to abandon hegemonism and coexist peacefully with China, a great power in the East.
"Chang'e Running Moon" also implies Mao Zedong's character of not accepting defeat. The Americans can land on the moon, Mao Zedong believes that Chinese can also be done in the near future, we have a long time ago Chang'e running to the moon, today's China, there will inevitably be a new "Chang'e", will also have the ability to land on the moon.
Experts from China and the United States have agreed quite unanimously on the interpretation of "going a long way and watching the flowers," holding that Mao Zedong is saying that Nixon's current visit to China is short, that this visit alone is not enough to understand China, and that only by long-term exchanges can we have a deeper understanding of China. Therefore, these four words also imply that Sino-US relations should be further developed.
In his foreign exchanges, Mao Zedong more than once gave some poetry and ink treasures to foreign friends. On October 7, 1961, when Mao Zedong met with Japanese guests, he hand-wrote a poem by Lu Xun and presented it to the Japanese guests: "Wanjia Ink Noodles have no Artemisia Lai, dare to mourn with songs and chants." His heart was vast and even Guangyu listened to the thunder in the silent place. ”
Afraid that the Japanese would not understand it, Mao Zedong also deliberately explained: "This poem was written by Lu Xun in the darkest years before the dawn of China. ”
Chairman Mao's calligraphy works
He also asked Guo Moruo to translate it into Japanese and give it to a Japanese friend. After receiving this poem recorded by Mao Zedong, the Japanese studied it for a long time and finally realized: "40 years ago, Lu Xun wrote that poem to Japanese friends, and today Chairman Mao gave Lu Xun's poem to Japanese friends. ”
One thing is for sure, the core of the twelve words in Mao Zedong's handwriting is the hope that China and the United States will abandon the past, attach importance to the future, and jointly write a new chapter in bilateral relations.