Before leaving home for school, Mao slipped the poem into his father's account book.
Tips
history
Written in 1910 when the seventeen-year-old left 韶山 for a new-style school in 湘乡. It opens 孩儿立志出乡关，学不成名誓不还 'your son has set his mind and leaves the village; unless he makes his name in study he swears not to return'.
culture
Mao changed a few words of a Japanese poem written in classical Chinese, long credited to 西乡隆盛 (Saigō Takamori), leader of the Meiji Restoration, though it was in fact written by the monk Gesshō.
