The first half praises the grandeur and beauty of northern China in the winter. The more politically significant part is the second half, where Mao lists important Chinese emperors, including Qin Shihuang, the first emperor of a united China; Emperor Wu of Han, the Han emperor who defeated the Huns; Emperor Taizong of Tang, the second emperor of the Tang dynasty; Emperor Taizu of Song, the first emperor of the Song dynasty; and Genghis Khan, whom the Chinese celebrate as the founder of the Yuan dynasty despite him never personally conquering China. After describing the shortcomings of these past leaders, Mao hints at his aspiration to surpass them, alluding to a famous passage from "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" where Cao Cao says to Liu Bei that “the only heroes in the world are you and I.”