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The British Museum
The Indomitable Soul

During the Cultural Revolution, Li's work was savagely criticised by Jiang Qing, Mao's wife. Li responded in the early 1970s by writing out (privately) 'The Indomitable Soul' by the Chinese ruler Cao Cao (155-220). Its stirring words reflected his own feelings:

In life's December, heroes bold
indomitable will be.

It is not up to Heaven alone
to lengthen or shorten our days.

Let us cultivate our minds and live on
through long years, if we know the ways.



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