Monday, 13 February

Second day of the first lunar month, Bingshen year

Quite cold

Letter to Lin Rong and Guo Zhijie.

I have not seen either of you in the past few days and I miss you both. I think you, too, are the same. The day after tomorrow will be my sixty-first birthday. I reckon that the events of the past are dreams, and I also know that events in the future are dreams too. The monks of the Tang Dynasty took as a lesson that they drank and ate meat in their dreams. I had thought this was pedantic. I want to invite my friends for a gathering at seven in the evening at the Hong Kong Lou. I hope both of you can join me and eat as much as you can. As I live in the city I do not have bamboo, but hopefully I still have meat. I am not only unable to be aloof, but also, I have to be careful of getting fat. Won’t you laugh at me? The weather is so cold, please take good care.