Mao Tse-tung was a Chinese revolutionary, a communist leader, and the first chairman of the PRC (People’s Republic of China). His political decisions and philosophy were based on Marxism-Leninism; he created a political policy called Maoism.
Of course, his political views and beliefs were reflected not only in his regimen but also in his manifests. The poetry of Mao Tse-tung can be considered as a part of his political manifests because it also transmitted the ideas that he considered as right or suitable for his country. In this paper, Mao Tse-tung’s poem “Chingkangshan” will be analyzed.
One should pay attention to the poem’s title. It is named after a Jinggang Mountains in East China. Although it can be unclear at first why Mao Tse-tung would write about this area, it should be noted that the Chinese revolution began there. Thus, through this poem, Mao Tse-tung describes the establishment of the Red Army in China; this poem can be considered as a ‘hymn’ of the revolution. The literary device used in the title is called allusion, i.e. a reference to a certain historical event, date, or fact.
The next literary device used in the poem is a metaphor. When Tse-tung writes “fly our flags and banners”, he does not mean they actually fly – they flutter in the wind. The line “Above the hilltops sound our bugles and drums” could also be considered as a metaphor because the drums are not above the hilltops, but they are so loud that it seems as if someone is drumming in the sky. “Thousands strong” is a hyperbole, i.e. exaggeration of a fact that is used to create a certain effect or invoke strong feelings in the reader. The next literary device used in this poem is parallelism: “Already our defense is iron-clad, / Now our will unite like a fortress.” Here, the defense of the Red Army soldiers is compared to their will; the author stresses their similarity, using different words with a similar meaning: “iron-clad” and “a fortress”. There is another stylistic device in this line: a comparison. The will of the soldiers is compared to an indestructible fortress.
The next line contains another allusion: “Huangyangchieh” is an area in Chinese province Jiangxi. This area is often featured on postcards with Mao Tse-tung; it was an important area for the Chinese Red Army during their revolution. The line “the thunder of guns” is an allegory, i.e. a presentation of an idea in a certain form. The thunder of guns can represent both the noise of the firing guns, as well as the revolution itself that is approaching China like a rattling thunder. In the last line, one can also observe a metaphor or, possibly, a euphemism: “the enemy has fled into the night” means the enemy is defeated or the enemy decided to surrender.
Such poems, especially written by the highest authorities, played an important role in the establishing of ideologies. They were also a link between the leader and the people: through such poems, the chairman tried to point out his unity with the people, prove that they are all equal and have the same aims and wishes. In this poem, the author never uses the pronoun “I”, only “we”, “our”, and “us”; thus, he emphasizes that he and his people are inseparable.