All the heroes drink uproariously.
The moon is close to its mid-autumn phase.
Before they awaken from their drunken stupor,
Two lions fight for the ball;
One falls into a well.
A beautiful woman in red rouge:
A dimpled face like a cherry blossom.

The three who played the main roles in this crisis were President Jiang (Chiang Kai-shek), Zhang Xueliang, and Madame Jiang--Sung Meiling (the wife of Chiang Kai-shek). Within the army barracks refers to Xian, where the crisis took place. Within the army barracks, all the heroes drink uproariously. There were Zhang Xueliang, Chiang Kai-shek, Yang Hucheng, and many others. "All the heroes" means there were a great number. They all had the look of heroes, the heads and faces of heroes. Everyone was having a drink together. The heroes were all drinking wine there. Which day was this? It was very close to the Mid-Autumn Festival. That's why the next line says: The moon is close to its mid-autumn phase. Probably the moon was covered over by clouds.

Before they awaken from their drunken stupor. Everyone had gotten drunk and fallen asleep, but two lions fight for the ball. During the Xian Incident, there was a company commander named Sun Mingjiu or Sun Mingshi--I'm not sure--who arrested President Jiang. At that time, there were two lions fighting and struggling over a ball. What was the ball? It was the land of China. The two lions were struggling to get the ball. But one falls into a well. One of the lions was not cautious enough and so it fell into a well. It could be said that President Jiang was the lion that fell into the well. It could also be said the Marshall Zhang Xueliang was the one who fell into the well. In any case, President Jiang and Marshall Zhang both fell into the well at some point.

It could be said that the one who fell into the well this time was President Jiang. A beautiful woman in red rouge: / A dimpled face like a cherry blossom. The beautiful woman in red rouge was Madame Jiang, Song Meiling. Madame Jiang and Song Ziwen, along with other people, went to Xian to negotiate with Zhang Xueliang. Zhang Xueliang did not truly want to capture President Jiang. He was only using this method to sway President Jiang. And so when Madame Jiang went there to make the request, Zhang Xueliang, who was a person of integrity, said, "Fine, I will escort (the then) Chairman Jiang back." Then Zhang Xueliang personally escorted President Jiang back to Nanjing. After they returned to Nanjing, who would have expected that, once this lion climbed out of the well, the other lion fell into the well and was kept under house arrest for over fifty years. When the first lion fell into the well, the beautiful woman in red rouge went there and, using her smiles and tears, changed Chinese history. The events of the Xian Incident were predetermined as early as the thirtieth year of the Guang Xu reign (1904).

The next verse is talking about the surrender of the Japanese.

With the spring thunderclap,
A white flag is raised.
Thousands of myriads of living ghosts sob in anguish.
In Rock City a rapid command arrives.
The rites and rituals of the Han Palace are restored.
But in the mountains to the east, fire-light is flaring.

With the spring thunderclap / A white flag is raised: Right after the atomic bomb was dropped, Japan panicked and unconditionally surrendered--they raised the white flag. Thousands of myriads of living ghosts sob in anguish. At that time the Japanese were like living ghosts. The Japanese troops, who had been unafraid of death, now wept and wailed. Some committed suicide. Others didn't want to live anymore. So the verse says, "Thousands of myriads of living ghosts sob in anguish." Originally, the Japanese had been known for their military spirit, for being brave soldiers who showed off their strength and power everywhere. As an army, they had been as ferocious as tigers and wolves, inspiring awe wherever they went. But after their unconditional surrender, they all started crying. They were like living ghosts. Their dignity was all gone, and it's not known where their fierce military courage disappeared to. So thousands of myriads of living ghosts sob in anguish. Once they surrendered, the Chinese began to bully them, because when they invaded China they had killed countless Chinese. The Chinese wanted to take revenge.

In the past I had said to people, "Don't underestimate Japan. Don't look down on Japan. Twenty years from now Japan will be a superpower in the international community." Why did I say that? Although they had been defeated, the Japanese stick together and are nationalistic. They are always looking for a way to be strong again. Twenty years after their surrender, Japan overwhelmed the world with its economic strategy and became a superpower again.

In Rock City a rapid command arrives. "Rock City" refers to Nanjing, also known as Jinling. "A rapid command arrives." The command came from Nanjing. What was the command? It was to celebrate the victory after eight years of war. Everyone was ordered to celebrate the success of the victory. The rites and rituals of the Han Palace are restored. At that time, because everyone wanted to celebrate the victory, they donned their ceremonial robes. China had always been a country of ceremonies and rituals. Now the "three hundred rituals and three thousand deportments" were brought out again. But everyone should be aware: In the mountains to the east, fire-light is flaring. In the mountains to the east, there was another fire. What was this fire? The "mountains to the east" refers to Mao Zedong ["east" is dong], who was in Manchuria then, building up the Eighth Route army; and to Lin Biao, the wolf, leading a pack of wolves--like flares of fire. The fire-light refers to the red Communist Party. The fire-light of the eastern mountains arose once more.

The next verse refers to the emergence of the Chinese Communist Party.

The sun and moon are eclipsed;
The five stars are rare.
Two and seven join together, wearing colorful clothes.
The rustic people lift their feet and stamp on gold tigers.
Throughout the land are red flowers and pervasive hunger.
The noble and wealthy, the poor and lowly,
  are without high or low.

Listen to that! Isn't that the Communist Party slogan? The sun and moon are eclipsed means that nighttime was drawing near. Although there was a sun, it was eclipsed. The moon was also eclipsed. Neither the sun nor the moon shone. The five stars are rare. There were very few stars. This line refers to the Communist Party's flag, which was called the five-star flag. The eclipse of the sun and moon represents the disappearance of the flag showing a white sun in a blue sky. However, the five stars were also rare. There weren't many five-star flags either. They were still working underground and had not become popular yet.

However, two and seven join together, wearing colorful clothes. Start with the character "two" (二) and add the character "seven" (七) and that forms the Mao (毛) of Mao Zedong's name. This is an obvious reference to Mao Zedong. The line "two and seven join together, wearing colorful clothes" has the two characters Mao and Ze hidden in it. The character Mao is wearing colorful clothes, which are gaily colored. The character Ze has the meaning of "glossy," which also has a slight connotation of "brilliance and gaiety." So that's what's meant by "wearing colorful clothes."

The rustic people lift their feet and stamp on gold tigers. What does "rustic people" refer to? It means those who were uneducated--the laborers, peasants, and soldiers--the Eight Route Army. "Stamp on gold tigers" means these people went about putting the landlords on trial. Thus the rustic people lifted up their feet and brought them down on the gold tigers--the landlords. The Communists called the landlords "gold tigers" because they were wealthy. They exploited the people, so they were called tigers, gold tigers. The rustic people lifted their feet and oppressed the gold tigers. Even though they were rustics, the gold tigers feared them because they didn't listen to reason.
Throughout the land are red flowers and pervasive hunger. At that time all of China turned red, red Communist. It was as if red flowers were blooming all over the land. "Pervasive hunger." The character for "hunger" isn't the character for "chicken." [The two characters are pronounced the same--ji.] If there were chickens and ducks pervading the land and we wouldn't have to raise them or feed them, then when the time came we could catch them, slaughter them, and eat their flesh. But that's not the case. The character ji here is the one that means hunger. There were red flowers throughout the land, but all across the land the people were starving.

The noble and wealthy, the poor and lowly, are without high or low. At that time the Communist slogan was "No wealthy and no poor. Everyone has food to eat and everyone has work to do." There was supposed to be no high or low. But as soon as they succeeded they began to pass out special privileges. Thus, the difference between the wealthy and the poor, the noble and the lowly, became even greater than before. These lines discuss Mao Zedong.
I recall that before I left Manchuria, there were already underground workers of the Communist Party in the area. I was a monk then; I had already left the home-life. One of them tried to convince me of the advantages of the Communist Party. He talked about how everyone