★ "Be careful, we'll tax your wealth!"
Mao Zedong was approachable and liked to joke around with his staff to lighten the mood. During the Central Soviet Area period, Mao once recuperated at Donghua Mountain in Ruijin. One day, he asked a young soldier responsible for his care at the clinic: "What's your name?"
"Qian Changxin."
"Which characters are those?"
"The qian of money, ri ri chang (prosperous every day), and three gold coins make xin." Upon hearing this, Mao smiled and said: "Ah, you're not satisfied with just being surnamed Qian, you also want so much gold! Be careful, we'll tax your wealth!"
★ "The grass on your head has just started to grow"
At the end of 1953, when Mao Zedong went to Hangzhou, Wang Fang, the director of the Zhejiang Provincial Public Security Department who was responsible for Mao's security and daily life, accompanied him during a meal. During the meal, Luo Ruiqing, Minister of Public Security, said to Wang Fang: "Wang Fang, I suggest you remove the grass radical from your name 'Fang.' This name can easily cause confusion; many uninformed people might think you're a female comrade."
"That won't do," Mao said, putting down his chopsticks. "Wang Fang, you're from Shandong. How's the greening in Shandong?"
"Just getting started."
"Shandong still has many barren mountains that haven't been greened yet. The grass on your head has just started to grow, and you want to remove it? That wouldn't do! When Shandong has eradicated its barren mountains and passed the greening test, then you can remove the grass radical from 'Fang.'"
★ "We two stones, one was thrown to Truman, and one to MacArthur"
In 1951, Peng Dehuai, then Commander of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army, returned to Beijing from the Korean War battlefield to report to Chairman Mao.
During their conversation, Mao joked: "Dehuai, you and I both have a connection with stones. Your courtesy name is Shi Chuan (Stone Penetration), and my childhood name was Shi San Ya Zi (Stone Third Boy), so both of us are stones." Peng Dehuai humbly replied: "How dare I compare myself to the Chairman. The Chairman is a rare gemstone, while I am merely an obstinate stone. There's a world of difference between us!"