CHAPTER 4 The Political Transformation of Romantic Lyricism: Moruo’s Classical-Style Poems in Response to

Modern Chinese writer Guo Moruo’s composition of a series of classical-style poems in response to Communist leader Mao Zedong was one of the most prominent cultural phenomena in the People’s Republic of under Mao’s dominance. Guo and Mao had known each other for half a century, and they exchanged poems from the 1940s until the 1970s. Of the thirty-nine poems Mao published in his lifetime, two were direct responses to Guo’s verses, and several others were sent to Guo for review before being shown to the public.338 Guo actively replied to Mao, enthusiastically discussed poetic techniques with him and, more importantly, never forgot to eulogize his unprecedented achieve- ments and his unchallengeable leadership of the Chinese Revolution. Poetry exchange was a common literary practice among the social elite in traditional China, involving rulers and subjects, friends and family members, and literary predecessors and successors. By creating poems that emulated in content or in rhyme the verses to which they replied, the participants articu- lated their shared experiences, feelings, and thoughts, or simply displayed their prosodic skills. The circulation of verses among poetry writers also helped build up social networks within certain communities.339 While the poetry exchange between Guo Moruo and Mao Zedong was grounded in this tradition, it was not merely a literary activity based on the two authors’ mutual interest in poetic craftsmanship and connoisseurship. Because of their common concern for the political and social context of literature, their poems cover almost all of the paramount historical events of their times, including the Second Sino- Japanese War, the Civil War, and the implementation of socialist policies and

338 For example, Mao wrote in a letter to Hu Qiaomu in 1959: “Here are two poems. Please send them to comrade Guo Moruo and see whether there are any problems. It is impor- tant to [let Guo] modify them.” In Mao Zedong, Mao Zedong shici 毛澤東詩詞集 (Collection of Mao Zedong’s poems and lyrics) (: Zhongyang wenxian chubanshe, 1996), 244. 339 For a historical study of poetry exchange in traditional China, see Yiwu 趙以武, Changhe shi yanjiu 唱和詩研究 (Study of poetry exchange) (Lanzhou: Gansu wenhua chubanshe, 1997).

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���6 | doi ��.��63/9789004310803_006 148 CHAPTER 4 programs in the early years of the PRC. Sometimes Guo’s and Mao’s verses became a field where political operations and power struggles were staged. In their poetic practice, the “outdated” classical literary form ironically served as a vehicle of communication in the most radical sociopolitical movements of Maoist China. As a founder of modern who introduced Western Romanticism to Chinese readers, during the May Fourth Guo Moruo highly valued a poet’s pure lyrical mind for its ability to spontaneously respond to the world through “sincere expressions” (chun- zhen de biaoxian 純真的表現).340 However, he announced his conversion to communism in 1924 and further declared in the mid-1930s that he would like to be a “slogan man” (biaoyu ren/kouhao ren 標語人/口號人) of the commu- nist revolution rather than a poet who indulged in self-expression.341 In the PRC he accepted the office of vice–prime minister of the state council, held other administrative positions in government and academia, and ended his career as president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the top national sci- entific research institution sponsored by the state. The poems he composed in Communist China fostered the personality cult of Mao Zedong by glorifying the new regime guided by Mao. His dramatic transformation from a Romantic poet into a resolute Communist propagandist and official has made him a con- troversial figure in modern Chinese literary and cultural history. Since the late 1970s, in the context of evaluating the success and failure of Mao Zedong’s revolution and dominance, scholars have commonly viewed Guo Moruo’s political engagement in the PRC as an example of the bureaucra- tization or moral degeneration of a scholar-writer in Mao’s regime, a poet on bended knee before the authorities. Their criticism of Guo has often involved a critical examination of Mao’s notorious manipulation of literature to serve his political needs.342 In addition, Guo’s warped moral life and personal weakness have been frequently targeted. The Taiwanese scholar Dakai, for example, denounced Guo for being an unscrupulous opportunist who took part in the

340 Guo Moruo, “Zhi Zong Baihua” 致宗白華 (To Zong Baihua), in Guo Moruo quanji: wenxue bian, 15:12. 341 Guo Moruo, “Wo de zuoshi de jingguo” 我的作詩的經過 (My experience of composing poems), in Guo Moruo quanji: wenxue bian, 16:183. 342 For a collection of critical essays reflecting on Guo’s strengths and weaknesses in aspects such as his poetry, historical research, and personality, see Ding Dong 丁東, ed., Fansi Guo Moruo 反思郭沫若 (Critical reflections on Guo Moruo) (Beijing: Zuojia chubanshe, 1998).