In 1951, Mao Zedong wrote an inscription of eight characters for the new Chinese Opera Research Institute: 百花齐放，推陈出新. “Let a hundred flowers bloom. Weed through the old to bring forth the new.” It was read out when the institute was founded on April 3, 1951.
In 1964, Mao set out a second formula of eight characters: 古为今用，洋为中用. “Make the past serve the present. Make the foreign serve China.” The Handian dictionary explains tui chen chu xin as removing the dross of the old and creating the essence of the new.