Collected Annotations of Mao Zedong on Ancient Literature and History Books

A collection of writings on the topic of Mao Zedong's readings of ancient books on literature and history. It was edited by the Party Literature Research Office of the Central Committee of the CPC and published by the Central Literature Publishing House in 1993. The whole book is a collection of nearly 300 annotations on the readings of 39 ancient books on literature and history, a few words for the simple ones and thousands of words for the complicated ones. The annotations were printed according to the original collections of the Central Archives, mostly published for the first time in this collection.

Mao Zedong had a passion for literature and history, thereby read a large number of ancient books on literature and history in his life and wrote a large number of critiques on them. Some of the books Mao Zedong read and criticized have been scattered in time. What were compiled into this collection are the preserved annotations of 15 ancient books of literature and 24 ancient books of history, which demonstrate his profound knowledge, deep roots in Chinese studies, high comprehension and excellent thinking ability.

The ancient literature books in the Collected Annotations of Mao Zedong on Ancient Literature and History Books, includes poems, lyrics, songs and fugues, couplets, and stories and novels from all ages. Mao Zedong was, on the one hand, appreciating and tasting them, and at the same time, reading them as history, for these poems, novels and other materials contain deeply hidden historical facts and philosophical views.

The books that Mao Zedong marked and annotated the most were The Twenty-Four Histories (a 40-million character book) and the book Zizhi Tongjian (Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance, published in 1084). Mao Zedong’s exploration and thinking on the philosophies contained in these historical materials was keen and profound. Some of the criticisms are synopses of the contents. And some are comments on characters or ideas, some are the play of association with related matters, and some are spurts of thought and inspiration. The criticisms are both short and long. There is no single pattern; the short ones are only one word, and the long ones are as many as two thousand words. As for commentaries, they contain praise and deprecation, express emotions, take history as a guide, discuss the ancient and satirize the present, pay especially focus on the social lessons of the literature and its practical application. They are rich in inspiration and thought-provoking. It is evident that Mao Zedong dived into the vast ocean of Chinese literature and history and reached a point where he did not overstep its rules. The collection also reflects that Mao Zedong was a lifelong learner, a keen reader, and a model of good absorption.