My understanding of this poem is as follows:
The opening line of the first stanza directly states “The apes bid farewell to each other. Just a few stones ground over, during childhood”, summarizing in a short sentence the evolution of primitive human ancestors from biological, immature beings in development to fully socialized humans who have entered class society from primitive communes. “Bidding farewell” is a social etiquette unique to humans, and can only exist when human society has further developed — because “etiquette” only arises when social productivity has advanced enough that a small part of people can detach from labor to study spiritual matters. In other words, from “bidding farewell,” humans have already left their childhood and entered into class society.
As the Communist Manifesto states, “(Since the disintegration of primitive communal ownership of land) all history is the history of class struggles, that is, the struggles between exploited and exploiting classes, and between ruling and ruled classes at various stages of social development.” After entering class society, all of human history becomes a history of class struggle, and everything bears the mark of class. In societies dominated by the exploiting class, workers toil hard, struggle persistently, and pour their blood and tears into countless labor fruits, pushing the demise of slavery and ushering in feudal times. However, even so, the slave masses and peasant masses who created splendid cultures have never truly been masters of their own destiny.
“Furnace flames turn in copper and iron, asking when can we guess? Only a few thousand cold and heat.” From the bronze furnace of the slave owner to the black iron furnace of the landlord, how long did the oppressors’ fires burn? How many people’s flesh and blood were burned clean for their luxury? How long did the exploitative system last? Looking at human history, how many people have died because of exploiters? Thousands of years, countless people, and in the end, only “guess.” These questions are not only extremely weighty to answer, but no one can give an exact answer.
“It’s hard to find a smile in the world, on the battlefield, bows and moons face each other. Blood flows across the outskirts.” A line adapted from Du Mu’s “It’s hard to find a smile in the mortal world,” but ultimately, its allusion comes from Zhuangzi’s “Dao Zhi.” When Dao Zhi scolded Confucius, he said, “People live to a hundred, middle age is eighty, lower age is sixty; among them, only four or five days in a month, when they can smile.” This deeply shows that in a class society, the lives of the broad masses are all dark and gloomy. Just as Mao Zedong recalled: “The world is so big, and there are so many people. How can so many people live? Isn’t it worth our attention? From the situation in Shaoshan, most people live painfully, either starving or freezing. Those who cannot afford medicine die from illness; in families and among neighbors, disputes and fights cause chaos, even leading to drowning or hanging; as for those who cannot read, they are blind for life. In Shaoshan, I saw hardly anyone living happily. The situation there is like that across Xiangtan County, Hunan Province, China, and probably the whole world!” In such a dark exploitative society, life is naturally painful. The ruling exploiters fight endlessly for power and land (there are also differences between “progressive” and reactionary factions within the exploiters, so the nature of wars varies, but that’s aside), and the people suffer from these wars. When there is no war, corrupt officials, heavy taxes, and miscellaneous burdens make life difficult (the phrase “blood flowing across the outskirts” was originally “blood spilled across the fields,” with “spilled” changed to “flowed” to clearly express Mao’s deep sympathy and mourning for the people who die forcibly in wars. On the battlefield of the exploiters, the people do not die gloriously like brave generals or soldiers, but are forced into slavery and oppression, bleeding and dying in silent humiliation).
To oppose the brutal oppression and rule of the exploiters, the working people naturally must rise up in rebellion, as the saying goes “Heaven sends demons to kill unjust… kill all unjust and bring peace.” Therefore, from ancient times to the present, the oppressed masses have always fought against exploiters with righteous, anti-exploitative, and anti-“injustice” wars. However, due to lack of theoretical weapons, betrayal by traitors, or because their struggles did not represent new productive relations, the struggles of the working people historically often ended in failure (although they objectively promoted historical progress — the fundamental driving force of history). Countless workers and revolutionaries were killed, their heads rolling and blood flowing. Even after death, they were slandered as “robbers,” “bandits,” “rebels,” and many peasant revolutionary leaders’ names were buried, cursed for thousands of years. As Stalin said, “For hundreds and thousands of years, workers have tried dozens and hundreds of times to overthrow the oppressors and become masters of their own lives. But each time they failed, were insulted, and had to retreat, burying their grievances, shame, anger, and despair in their hearts. Looking up at the vast sky, they hope to find salvation there. The shackles of slavery remain unchanged, or perhaps new shackles, just as heavy and insulting, have replaced the old ones.” Such tragic historical facts make it impossible for later generations, inheritors, poets, or the suffering people of thousands of years to smile happily.
The exploiters look down on the working masses while recording falsehoods like “heaven sends auspicious signs” and “Hetu Luoshu” in history books, describing every incompetent, brutal, shameless, and licentious emperor as a “saint” who has not been seen for thousands of years. Mao Zedong sharply pointed out: “Most of the 24 histories are false, and so are most of the so-called official records… The 40 million words of the 24 histories mostly describe emperors and generals, and rarely mention the production and living conditions of the common people. Some are written vaguely; others distort the truth, depicting peasant struggles against oppression and exploitation as evil ‘bandits,’ ‘robbers,’ ‘rebels’… This is the most untrue history.” Only by authenticating and discarding falsehoods in such histories can they have any practical value.
It is precisely “After reading a piece, the snow on the head flies, but I remember the mottled spots, a few lines of traces.” The vast sea of exploiters’ historical books can only be studied thoroughly with a lifetime of effort, leaving behind only gray hair, and only by authenticating and discarding falsehoods, can one glimpse the buried truth from the few remaining words or traces. Only the deeds of those who died for “equality” — raising the red flag, calling for revolution, and fighting as serfs — are truly gold, while the rest of the family stories of officials and nobles are just drifting sands. (It’s worth noting that Mao’s original draft phrase was “After reading a piece, the head flies snow, but I remember the mottled spots, a few lines of traces,” showing his precise and high-level use of words. Changing “a piece” to “an article” highlights his deep understanding and application of historical materialism.)
After exposing the falsehoods in exploiters’ histories, Mao Zedong sharply and incisively pierced the greatest lie in human history — that heroic figures who rewrite history, unify the ages, and leave a lasting reputation are just complete liars! The so-called “Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors’ sacred deeds” are merely “deceiving endless travelers”! For thousands of years, countless people at countless times and places fell for this, believing rulers like Huangdi, Zhuanxu, Emperor Ku, Yao, Shun to be “saints,” and their deeds to be extremely sacred and unquestionable. But in reality, the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors were just rulers during the slave society period. Who among them did not climb to power on the bones of slaves and peasants? Their stories, glorified and processed by exploiters and rulers over generations, became myth-like illusions, used as spiritual weapons to consolidate their rule. These “Three Sovereigns” and “Five Emperors” praised for thousands of years by slave owners and Confucianists are arguably the greatest frauds in history. Rulers used them as spiritual weapons to suppress the resistance of the working people, and their statues are stained with the tears and blood of laborers.
The people need revolution and national liberation. Such political scammers who deceive countless people, whether called Huangdi, Yao, Shun, or democracy, freedom, or “socialism,” must be overthrown! Without overthrowing them, the people cannot be truly liberated! (It’s worth noting that the original draft phrase was “deceived endless travelers,” changing “endless” to “infinite” to depict not just a momentary number but an infinite number of people over an infinite period, transforming the phrase into a higher artistic and political level through the application of historical materialism, thoroughly exposing the false veneer of the so-called “sacred” and “noble.”)
Finally, since the “Five Emperors” and “Three Sovereigns” who are worshipped as gods are all liars, who are the true people? Mao Zedong gave the answer: “How many charming figures? Dao Zhi and Zhuang Jue are praised by later generations, and Wang Fuxing rises up with a yellow axe.” The people, only the people, are the driving force of history. The slave leaders like Dao Zhi and Zhuang Jue, who are slandered as “robbers,” and Spartacus, who led revolts across Sicily in pursuit of liberation… no matter how much the rulers smear and slander these slave and peasant heroes, they will always be “famous like the sun and moon,” and their deeds will be passed down forever. Their descendants, inspired by their spirit, continue to raise the banner of revolution. Chen Sheng and Wu Guang first made the “big black handprint” a historical fact, making farmers temporarily masters of their own destiny. Since then, revolutionary farmers have repeatedly and more thoroughly challenged the shackles of the exploitative system, overthrowing feudal oppression through centuries of struggle. Later, allied with workers, they overthrew the equally predatory capitalist system, and finally established a socialist new China on Chinese land. Their military struggles for the liberation of workers are not forgotten but are engraved on the monument of people’s heroes alongside their descendants. After thousands of years of injustice, finally someone has helped them overturn it!
Having established a state without oppression, is the revolution over? No. “The song is not yet finished, the east is white.” Looking eastward, the sky is already turning pale with dawn approaching, and the people are about to be liberated. But the revolutionary song has not yet been sung, and the revolution has not yet been completely victorious. Mao initially wrote “the song is not yet finished,” then changed it to “the song is not yet complete.” The word “complete” indicates both that the revolutionary song is still ongoing and that the revolutionary cause has not yet been finished.
Since socialist society is derived from capitalist society, it inevitably carries the vestiges of the old society, including the eight-grade wage system, the existence of bourgeois legal rights, and the presence of a bourgeoisie that has not been completely eliminated, with new bourgeoisie emerging within the Communist Party. “In the socialist revolution, we do not know where the bourgeoisie is — it is within the Communist Party, among those in power who follow the capitalist road.”
Nearly half a century has passed since capitalism was fully restored in China. Over this half-century, Chinese workers have suffered under private ownership, living lives full of hardship and bloodshed, forced to sell themselves to powerful figures for survival. However, as crises are inevitable, so too is the arrival of revolution. In today’s capitalist world, the three major contradictions of imperialism have intensified, and revolutionary movements are surging worldwide. The socialist revolution is like a mast appearing on the horizon, visible from afar. As descendants of those martyrs who have sacrificed for revolution over thousands of years, we must inherit their will, complete their unfinished work, overturn the distorted history, and rebuild a heaven on earth where no one exploits or oppresses others.
