Read this in The Manila Times digital edition.
The first edition of a book that was published in English in 1976 by the Peking Foreign Languages Press titled "Mao Tsetung Poems" recently surfaced from among the publications that I was sorting out this past rainy and windy week for possible donation to interested schools. Mao Tsetung (Zedong) was the founder and leader of the People's Republic of China from 1949 to 1959, and the chairman of the Chinese Communist Party from 1935 until his death in 1976. His English-translated poems were written from 1925 until 1965.
When I turned the book's fly leaf, I saw my name on top of this page with a date, which indicated that I got this publication more than four decades ago, specifically on April 6, 1980. Four names in Chinese characters alongside English alphabet signatures were on the upper half of this page, while several familiar Filipino signatures were found on the lower half. I suddenly recalled that from March 29 to April 7, 1980, I was with 13 social scientists from the Philippine Social Science Council (PSSC), "a non-stock, non-profit, non-governmental and non-sectarian organization for scientific, cultural, and educational purposes," who were officially invited to visit the People's Republic of China (PRC) by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). The CASS is the country's premier academic social science organization and research center and was established in 1977. The four Chinese names on the flyleaf were those of senior CASS members who served as our guides and translators. It was, for most of us, our first visit to China.
Continue reading with one of these options:
Ad-free access
P 80 per month
(billed annually at P 960)
- Unlimited ad-free access to website articles
- Limited offer: Subscribe today and get digital edition access for free (accessible with up to 3 devices)