Mao Zedong's Reading Experience: Mao Zedong's Reading of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1 Studying (1)
Peeking at the private school students of "Three Kingdoms"

Once, after Mr. Mao Yuju finished speaking "Zengguang Xianwen", he asked the students to recite it repeatedly while resting for a while, asking them to memorize it by heart.But Mao Zedong didn't take his words to heart at all, and secretly opened "Three Kingdoms" and read it carefully.

Mao Zedong and Mao Yuju are cousins ​​of five generations. Mao Yuju is a well-known intellectual in Shaoshan and is known as "a pen in Shaoshan".

Mao Yuju read a lot of poetry and books, set up a private school in his hometown, recruited some children of the local family, and taught "Children's Learning" and "San Zi Jing" and so on.

In the autumn of 1906, Mao Zedong, who had just graduated from the Qiaotouwan Private School, defected to his school for nearly a year.

The young Mao Zedong was well-known in Shaoshan Chong for his intelligence, but at the same time his "naughtiness" also caused a lot of headaches for the previous school teachers.Therefore, when Mao Shunsheng sent Mao Zedong to live under the door of Mao Yu in Jingwanli, which was about 5 miles away from Chongshangwuchang in Shaoshan, he specially asked him to "strict discipline".

Mao Yuju is a typical Confucian scholar, with a pleasant expression and gentle manner.Precisely because of his own family background, he studied hard when he was young, so he is also very strict with his students, even almost harsh.Once he finds out that students are mischievous and disobedient, or deserted while listening to lectures, at least they will criticize and beat them;

But Mao Zedong didn't take it seriously, and often made "opposing" moves.

Once, after Mr. Mao Yuju finished speaking "Zengguang Xianwen", he asked the students to recite it repeatedly while resting for a while, asking them to memorize it by heart.But Mao Zedong didn't take his words to heart at all, and secretly opened "Three Kingdoms" and read it carefully.Just as he was watching intently, unexpectedly "Brother Yuju" walked over with his hands behind his back.Mao Zedong saw it at a glance, quickly covered it with the official script, and began to read while shaking his head.But his actions were still discovered.Mao Yuju walked to his desk and shouted sharply:

"Mao Runzhi, what are you doing?" "Mr. Zun ordered, I am studying!" Mao Zedong replied solemnly. "Since you are reading, well, you recite the book for me!" Mao Yuju raised the bamboo board in his hand and said, "If you can't recite it, don't blame my bamboo board for not recognizing people." "Mr. Urgent." Mao Zedong stood up unhurriedly, and recited calmly-"The sages of the past, taught you earnestly, collected rhymes and expanded, and learned a lot. Looking at the present should learn from the past, and the past cannot make the present ..." Mao Zedong recited the text in one go, very fluently.Mao Yuju had no choice but to put away the bamboo board in resentment, but he still reprimanded him without losing the majesty of the teacher: "You better be careful in the future." But Mao Zedong still will not be "careful" in the future.Originally, Mao Yuju's contempt for Mao Zedong's teacher's dignity was aroused.Because Mao Zedong always called Mao Yuju "big brother" when he opened his mouth, but never called him Mr.Once, Mao Yuju confessed that the students should review their homework in class and should not walk around and chat casually.But Mao Zedong stood up and said: "If my elder brother doesn't teach a new class today, I will go to the mountains to find a place with fresh air to study, where the book quality will be better." Naturally, Mao Yuju would not agree. Sneaked out.Two hours passed, and Mao Zedong not only memorized the text, but also picked a lot of chestnuts from the tree.He gave each classmate a share first, and even prepared a copy for "big brother".Mao Yuju was so angry that he didn’t let Mao Zedong into the classroom during class in the afternoon, but pointed to the courtyard outside the classroom and said, “If you have the ability to disobey discipline, use the courtyard as a poem. Sue your father!"

Mao Zedong consciously accepted the punishment and circled the courtyard twice.There is also a deep well in the courtyard. The naughty students just caught some fish and shrimps from the stream and raised them in it.He felt that "big brother" was taking too much control, and he was like a small fish and shrimp in the yard, without any freedom. After thinking about it, he chanted casually:

Square patio?Surrounded by high walls and clear pebbles?Does Xiaoyu only drink well water in the center?After listening to Yuju, who will never grow hair, he felt that what he said made sense, so he didn't blame him anymore.

After that, Mao Yuju changed the rigid teaching method to Mao Zedong, lent him his own collection of books, let him learn more by himself, and expanded his horizons as much as possible. In the early autumn of 1910, before Mao Zedong went to Xiangxiang Dongshan School, Mao Yuju persuaded Mao Shunsheng several times who was unwilling to send his son to school, saying:
"If Runzhi enters a foreign school, he will stand out in the future."

Mao Yuju saw his great future and ambition from the special performance of young Mao Zedong studying "Three Kingdoms" in the form of hide-and-seek, and reflected on his rigid and backward teaching method.

Wisdom with "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms"
"There are three novels in China, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "Water Margin" and "Dream of Red Mansions". Anyone who has not read these three novels is not considered a Chinese."

On September 1927, 9, Mao Zedong led the Autumn Harvest Uprising troops to Sanwan Village in Yongxin County, where the famous "Sanwan Adaptation" was carried out.Late that night, Mao Zedong came to the "Xieshenghe" grocery store in Sanwan Village where he was staying. He put his bed on the simple counter and was about to lie down to sleep. with a stack of dusty books.His love of reading made him take it down.It turned out that this was a thread-bound version of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms".Immediately, Mao Zedong's eyes lit up, and he lost all sleepiness.In such a remote and culturally backward mountain village, it is not easy to see such a famous work.As if he had found a treasure, he forgot the fatigue of a day's march, and read it in the dim light that night.I borrowed it from the shopkeeper early the next morning.During the day, Mao Zedong had heart-to-heart talks with local people and army commanders, and at night he held meetings to discuss a series of major issues such as the reorganization of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army.But he still seized the spare time before going to bed to read.In this way, this set of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" accompanied him through the day and night in Sanwan.

Later, Mao Zedong led the uprising troops to move to Jinggangshan, where the enemy rule was weak on the border of Hunan and Jiangxi.During the very difficult years in Jinggangshan, books and periodicals were very scarce, and Mao Zedong's hobby of reading was hard to satisfy.Therefore, when he was beating a local tyrant, Mao Zedong went to the local tyrant's house to look for books such as "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms".A farmer told him: "No more!

there is none left!It was communism yesterday. On May 1938, 5, when Mao Zedong gave a speech entitled "Our Attitude towards the Three People's Principles" to the second brigade of the third phase of the "Anti-Japanese University", he also told people this interesting story with relish.

During the Sixth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the Party held in October 1938, Mao Zedong also joked to the two generals He Long and Xu Haidong: "There are three novels in China, "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "Water Margin" and "Dream of Red Mansions". Anyone who doesn’t read a novel is not considered a Chinese.” From this we can see how much Mao Zedong loved The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Mao Zedong was so familiar with "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" in his writings, reports, speeches, and casual chats that he almost used it to the extent that he could speak it out of his mouth and use it at his fingertips.

In "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "Talking about the general trend of the world, long-term division must be united, long-term unity must be divided", Mao Zedong saw the reasonable core of "conforming to dialectics"; "In the proverb, Mao Zedong read out the "dialectics of nature" to explain the unity of life and death, disaster and blessing, sorrow and happiness, necessity and accident; in the battle of Guandu, Chibi and Yiling " In the "Three Great Battles", Mao Zedong read out "Military Dialectics", which correctly revealed advantages and disadvantages, strength and weakness, arrogant soldiers and mourning soldiers, offensive and defensive, preemptive strikes and late strikes, objective conditions and subjective conditions, Dialectics of principal and secondary contradictions.

"The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is a living art of war and a vivid history of war.Mao Zedong said that "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" was "the first military textbook" he had read.Mao Zedong commanded the war for 24 years, and the "wisdom of the Three Kingdoms" often lingered in Mao Zedong's mind.He used "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" to life.There are many examples of battles, such as the combination of reality and reality, offensive and defensive advances and retreats, the small fight the big, the few win the many, the battles should be balanced, the capture should be vertical, the winners and losers, there are lessons to learn from.

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is full of political experience and political wisdom.Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Sun Quan, Zhuge Liang, and Sima Yi are all outstanding feudal politicians who promoted the unification of the country and the progress of history.Cao Cao cut off the power of feudal drama, and tried to realize the unified political mind, political tolerance and political vision of the world; Political strategy; Zhuge Liang's emphasis on the united front and the consolidation of alliance forces; Sun Quan's consolidation of the Jiangdong base and his ability to use young talents.From them, Mao Zedong has learned and learned from these grand strategies of managing the country and the people.

In the final analysis, the political and military struggles in the Three Kingdoms period were the competition of talents.Mao Zedong, a young man who was studying in Hunan No. [-] Normal School, said: "When the Three Kingdoms competed, the situation was constantly changing, and talents came out in large numbers. It is a joy to read."Cao Cao knew how to use people, Liu Bei was able to unite people, Sun Quan dared to use young people in command, Yuan Shao did not know how to use generals, and Zhuge Liang used Ma Di wrongly. These positive and negative experiences were effectively used by Mao Zedong in practice.

During the period of the Three Kingdoms, diplomacy was active and frequent, and diplomatic struggles were intertwined with political and military struggles. The stories about diplomacy in the novel were wonderful.The winners include Kong Ming and the Confucians, and the losers include Jiang Gan who stole books.Mao Zedong went to Chongqing for negotiations and brought the book "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" with him, which is also meaningful.

In the eyes of ordinary people, "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" writes more about politics, military affairs, and diplomacy, and less about economics. Occasionally, it also writes about economics and logistics support.However, "interlacing lines without separating lines" has Mao Zedong's reference to "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" in the determination of the economic system, the adoption of economic models, the selection of economic talents, and the leadership style of economic work.

Mao Zedong disapproved of more than 30 people in the Three Kingdoms, whether it was affirmative or negative, it was inspiring.Cao Cao's political demeanor, Liu Bei's benevolence and love for the people, Zhuge Liang's dedication, Zhao Yun's courage, Zhou Yu's youth and promise, Guan Yu's loyalty, Zhang Fei's courage, Guo Jia's resourcefulness, Dong Zhuo's cruelty, Yuan Shao Mao Zedong's indecision, Liu Biao's ostentatious appearance, Zhang Song's vendor's pursuit of glory, etc., Mao Zedong was able to "use people as mirrors."Mao Zedong praised Ye Jianying for his wisdom in fighting with Confucians, Peng Dehuai for his courage to accept orders in the face of danger, Yang Chengwu for his brave general Zhao Zilong, and Chen Geng for his courage to raise troops and retreat from the enemy, all of which focused on talents.

There are flaws in "Catch and Put"
"The question is, how did Chen Gong of the Han Dynasty sing the Lingyan Pavilion that was only three or four hundred years later?"

Once, Mao Zedong asked to watch "Catch and Put the Store" co-starred by Tan Fuying and Qiu Shengrong.After the performance, Mao Zedong asked the two artists two questions: First, Chen Gong had a running water board singing, the libretto was "Don't shed tears to avoid sadness, the word loyalty and filial piety is in the heart, and work together to create a career. Famous."Mao Zedong asked Tan and Qiu if they knew the allusion of Lingyan Pavilion, but they did not answer.Mao Zedong told them that Lingyan Pavilion was built when Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, and it was a place to commemorate the founding heroes.The question is, how did Chen Gong of the Han Dynasty sing the Lingyan Pavilion that was only three or four hundred years later?

Tan and Qiu were at a loss for words for a while.Mao Zedong suggested that they only need to modify the last sentence of this libretto, and the problem will be solved.Second, Chen Gong sang "Hearing his words scares me", this part of the libretto is Chen Gong's inner monologue, and he did not say it, but after Chen Gong finished singing, Cao Cao accused him of "talking too much." deceit".Let me ask, how did Cao Cao know what Chen Gong was thinking and what he was talking about?Mao Zedong's question made the two artists in front of them dumbfounded in embarrassment.

After returning home, Tan Fuying told her junior sister Wang Zezhao about her acting process in Zhongnanhai, and said with emotion: "At the beginning, I learned opera by oral instruction, and I learned and acted as my master taught me. I seldom studied the ins and outs of the story. After so many years of drama, I still don’t know why. It seems that we really have to study culture and history, otherwise we will inevitably make jokes on stage.” It can be seen that Mao Zedong is familiar with the stories of the Three Kingdoms and can put forward his own opinions on many details. Corrected some misunderstandings and made the performances of Peking Opera artists more perfect.

Knowledge in a string of beads

"Zhuge Liang was the prime minister of the Three Kingdoms period, how could he wear Buddhist beads from the Ming Dynasty or court beads from the Qing Dynasty?"

Mao Zedong studied the "Three Kingdoms" very thoroughly, and he loved the "Three Kingdoms" drama very much. One day in the autumn of 1950, Mao Zedong watched Tan Fuying and Qiu Shengrong co-starred in "Lost Street Pavilion, Empty City Strategy, Killing Ma Su" in Zhongnanhai.Tan Fuying introduced to Mao Zedong: At that time, his grandfather Tan Xinpei once entered the palace to act, playing the role of Zhuge Liang in "The Empty City". Due to the hot weather, beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. A string of sandalwood beads was rewarded to him.It is said that smelling the fragrance of sandalwood in the hot season can cool off the heat and avoid evil.From then on, every time Tan Xinpei performed "Empty City Strategies", he would wear Buddhist beads on his body.Because Tan Xinpei is a master of Peking Opera, he has a wide influence in the Liyuan circle. When opera artists outside the palace saw him wearing Chaozhu when he played Zhuge Liang, they all followed suit... Mao Zedong said after hearing that Chaozhu was called Buddha beads in the Ming Dynasty.At that time, the emperors believed in Buddhism, and when worshiping Buddha, they often hung Buddhist beads on their chests. In the Qing Dynasty, emperors used Buddhist beads as prizes, and rewarded meritorious ministers according to their official ranks.Because it was given by the emperor, the ministers who received the reward wore Buddhist beads on their chests when they were in court. First, they did not forget the emperor's favor;

After Mao Zedong finished talking about the knowledge about Chaozhu, he said to Tan Fuying in a discussion tone: "Zhuge Liang was the prime minister of the Three Kingdoms. How could he wear the Buddhist beads of the Ming Dynasty or the Chaozhu of the Qing Dynasty? It was he himself who expressed his respect for Cixi when he ordered the ancestors to wear them in plays. It’s not that Zhuge Liang, the character in the play, should wear it in order to please Empress Dowager Cixi. There are reasons for people’s affairs in the past, and there are reasons for it, and future generations will do the same. Isn’t it unreasonable?”

Mao Zedong's words made Tan Fuying suddenly realize that he would no longer wear Chaozhu when playing Zhuge Liang. The colleagues in the industry knew the whole story, and they all followed Tan Fuying's example and never wore Chaozhu when playing Zhuge Liang.Although it is a trivial matter to correct a fallacy in the play, it can be seen that Mao Zedong paid great attention to the performance of "Three Kingdoms", which reflects his profound knowledge.

Can't read ten lines at a glance

"Pang Tong in "Three Kingdoms" can see ten lines at a glance. I never believed it. It's a myth."

In the second half of 1935, Mao Zedong paid close attention to the study of the university's teaching staff. He often said: To be a teacher, you must first be a student.At a school office meeting, he told everyone:

"We are going to have a reading competition to see who has read more books and mastered more knowledge. As long as it is a book, no matter if it is Chinese, foreign, classical, modern, positive or negative, everyone can dabble in it. But I can't read ten lines at a glance. I never believed that Pang Tong in "Three Kingdoms" could read ten lines at a glance. It is a myth. Reading is first rough reading to get a general impression, and then re-reading, revisiting every important chapter, which is also called intensive reading. In this On top of that, write some reading notes, ask a few why, and think about the surrounding things in connection with reality. Only in this way can we prevent dogmatism and bookishness.” Mao Zedong used the allusion in "Three Kingdoms" that Pang Tong can read ten lines at a glance to explain that reading should pay attention to methods, You can't be careless and careless.

Reading Romance of the Three Kingdoms in Dangerous Situation

I saw Mao Zedong holding a copy of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and reading it intently, no matter where the gunshots came from.

Mao Zedong has directed "Empty City Plans" many times in critical situations. On the way to northern Shaanxi in 1947, on the evening of June 6, Mao Zedong led the "Three Detachments" to leave Wangjiawan, where they had lived quietly for 8 days.The folks in Wangjiawan held lanterns and torches and stood in a dangerous location to see the special team off.Mao Zedong went up the mountain and walked north.It was so dark that you couldn't see your fingers, the mountains were high and the slopes were steep, the road was slippery in the rain, and the horses could not be ridden. The guards and soldiers kept pulling and pushing, and sometimes they carried Mao Zedong up the mountain, and everyone was drenched.The mule carrying the radio rolled down the mountain and fell to his death. People crawled down the mountain in the dark to drag the radio up.In the middle of the night, the rain stopped, and the team rested in a small mountain village called Shimaoze.

On the night of June 1947, 6, Liu Kan led his troops to chase Wangjiawan.

Coincidentally, when Liu Kan was camping, he happened to live in the same cave dwelling that Mao Zedong lived in.Probably because the "three detachments" withdrew hastily, and an envelope with the words "Li Desheng" written on it was left in the cave.Liu Kan saw the envelope, pondered for a while, and concluded that "Li Desheng" was Mao Zedong.So, he immediately ordered his subordinates to turn around and go up the mountain to chase north.

On June 6, Mao Zedong led the "Three Detachments" to Xiaohe. Just as he was cooking and setting up the radio, the enemy planes circled at low altitude, and the cavalry scouts also came to report that the enemy was getting closer.Not long after the team left the village, it began to rain again.At night, in the ravine on the left and on the top of the hill, the enemy lit up piles of fires, and even the enemy's soldiers shouted and horses could be heard clearly.The enemy is at the feet of the "three detachments".But the enemy never imagined that the head office of the CCP they pursued day and night was actually on a mountain ridge not far from them.Although the enemy is so close, the terrain in northern Shaanxi is dangerous and the area is so large. As Mao Zedong said: "Separating a mountain is like separating a world." The enemy has no masses, just like blind and deaf people. At the foot of the mountain, we bumped into each other. The "Three Detachments" had a fellow villager as a guide, walked quietly under the nose of the enemy, and arrived at Tianci Bay on the morning of June 9 to camp.

Tianciwan is a small village with only more than 20 families. Due to the war, all the people in the village went to the mountains to escape.After Ren Bishi arranged the residences of Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, he ordered the troops to bury the pot and cook.

(End of this chapter)