A letter from Mao Zedong (1893-1976) to Guo Moruo (1892-1978)

Estimated Value:

20.000 € - 30.000 €

Result:

90.650 € incl. Premium and VAT

Description:

China, probably 1965
Blatt je 35,5 x 23,4 cm, Gesamtbrief 35,5 x 70 cm
Three sheets and an envelope inscribed by Mao Zedong. Ink on paper. The letter was kept together with a Liberation Army newspaper (Jiefangjun bao) dated July 27, 1959. The letter is signed on the last sheet: "Mao Zedong, 7th month, 28th day." No year is given. Expressive calligraphy in Mao Zedong's distinctive conceptual script:
郭老：
章行严先生一信，高二适先生一文寄上，请研究酌处。我给章先生信亦先寄你一阅。笔墨官司，有比无好。未先？定为何？敬颂安吉！并问力群同志好！
毛泽东
七月廿八日
Old [friend] Guo,
Here I send you a letter from Mr Zhang Xingyan (Zhang Shizhao, 1881-1973) and the article by Mr Gao Ershi (1903-1977). Please check them for places that need to be reconsidered. I am also sending the letter I wrote to Mr Zhang to you to read first. His style is official and there are comparatively not good parts. I have not made up my mind at first, how should we proceed? I sincerely wish you peace and happiness! Greetings also to Comrade Li Qun from me!
Mao Zedong, 7th month, 28th day
Private collection, by repute collected in the 1960s, since then in family possession
The letter apparently refers to the 1965 academic debate about the authenticity of Wang Xizhi's 'Lanting Pavilion Preface' (Lanting xu) from 353 AD. It is considered a major work in the history of Chinese calligraphy. In June 1965, Guo Moruo published an article in the journal Wenwu (Cultural Relics) titled "From the Excavation of the Wang and Xie Tomb Inscriptions to the Authenticity of the Lanting Preface." Based on the tomb inscriptions of Wang Xizhi and his wife, as well as the tomb inscription of Xie Kun, unearthed in Nanjing in 1965, Guo Moruo argued that the author of the Lanting Preface was not Wang Xizhi, but that the text and calligraphy of the preface were the work of Wang Xizhi's seventh-generation grandson, Zhiyong.
The Nanjing calligrapher Gao Ershi subsequently wrote an article entitled "A Refutation of Doubts on the Authenticity of the Lanting Preface," but the newspapers, intimidated by Guo Moruo and his supporter Kang Sheng, refused to publish it. Gao Ershi then sent the article to Zhang Shizhao, then director of the Central Academy of Literature and History. On July 16, Zhang Shizhao forwarded Gao Ershi's article to Mao Zedong. Mao Zedong reviewed Zhang Shizhao's letter and Gao Ershi's article and replied on July 18. On the same day, Mao Zedong also sent a letter to Guo Moruo. This letter is likely the present one.
On July 23, Gao Ershi finally published "A Refutation of Doubts on the Authenticity of the Lanting Preface" in the Guangming Daily. He argued that Guo Moruo's conclusion that there was only one official text in the Eastern Jin Dynasty was based on isolated evidence and difficult to generalize. Guo Moruo then published "A Discussion of the Refutation" in Wenwu in August. Other leading experts in Chinese art history also spoke out, including Qi Gong (1912-2005), Xu Senyu, Zhao Wanli, Li Changlu, and Shang Chengzuo, each arguing for or against the authenticity of the preface. The debate lasted about five or six months. As late as 1972, Guo Moruo maintained that the Lanting Preface was a forgery. Following further discoveries of tomb inscriptions near Nanjing from the time of Wang Xizhi, which demonstrate the diversity of writing styles at that time, it is now believed that the preface to the Lanting Pavilion was actually written by Wang Xizhi. However, the original has not survived; only several fairly accurate tracings have come down to us - Signs of age and wear, light foxing, edges partially minimally torn

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