臧克家与毛泽东

臧克家和毛泽东的交往缘于诗。他们的第一次会面是1945年9月在重庆,会面后臧克家写的第一首歌颂毛泽东的诗是《毛泽东,你是一颗大星》。1956年底《诗刊》创刊,主编臧克家等向毛泽东写信约稿。1957年1月14日,毛泽东在中南海召见了臧克家和袁水拍。席间同意臧克家的意见,毛泽东修改了即将发表的《沁园春.雪》中的字。尔后臧克家又帮毛泽东修改诗词文字多处。而对臧克家提出的诗词中的问题,毛泽东也尽量作答。1957年“反右”时臧克家因刚刚受到毛泽东的召见而幸免于难。臧克家经常就诗歌问题给毛泽东写信,毛泽东先后给臧克家写过七封信,主要内容都是论诗。

Zang Kejia and Mao Zedong

Zang Kejia and Mao Zedong first met at Chongqing in September 1945. After that Zang wrote a poem “Mao Zedong, You are a Great Star,” which was his first poem to praise Mao. When Zang became the editor of the Poetry magazine which started at the end of 1956, he and his colleagues wrote a letter to Mao, inviting him to write poems for the magazine. Mao gave Zang and Yuan Shuipai a reception in Zhongnanhai on January 14th, 1957, and he accepted Zang's suggestion and altered a word in his famous poem “Qiyuanchun · Snow” that was to be published by the magazine. Thereafter Zang helped Mao modify some of the wordings in his other poems, and Mao tried his best to answer some questions raised by Zang concerning poetry. Thanks to Mao's recent reception, Zang was lucky enough to have a narrow escape from persecution during the anti-rightist campaign in 1957. Mao and Zang often discussed poetry in their correspondence, and Mao wrote Zang seven successive letters on poetry.