A lot of the author's memoirs are nothing more than recycling of widely available information. Li’s memoirs are not based on his personal diaries as he claims, because he burned his own diaries during the Cultural Revolution.
It was the publisher of this book, Random House, that wanted to add all the bullshit about Mao’s sex life. They did this in order to sell more copies, and they didn’t care if what they said was historically inaccurate. An Open Letter was published in the Asian American Times and Straits Review in Taiwan. The signatories of the letter pointed out discrepancies between the English and Chinese version of this book. A statement against this book was signed by 150 people who worked with Mao.
Li claimed to be Mao’s physician since 1954. He presented no evidence to back this up. However, there is evidence that he was Mao’s physician since 1957. So he lied to his readers! Li also claims that he attended CCP Politburo meetings with Mao. This is also a lie. Li wasn’t authorized to attend such meetings. It was against the party rules.
People who worked with Mao and earned his trust all have some personal item from Mao. Li, however, does not! Li claims it was Deng who fought against Mao’s personality cult. In reality, Mao warned against personality cults, and Mao always rejected the term “Mao Zedong Thought”. Instead, he simply called it “Mao Zedong’s Instructions” or “Work by Mao”.
Li claims that Mao was a womanizer and slept with women under a big quilt, but he is lying. Mao didn’t use quilts when he moved to Beijing. When Li came face to face with a Chinese audience, he had to admit that he never caught Mao in bed with a woman he wasn’t married to.
The author claims that Mao wanted to shut down the clinics for top-ranking party members because he wanted to topple Liu Shaoqi, who had lung disease. In reality, Mao closed down the facilities after Liu’s lung disease was cured. Li says that Mao sent anyone he disliked to a gulag. This isn’t true. Mao simply sent people to the countryside to learn from the peasants and understand the average citizen's way of life.
Sources (books):
The Battle for China's Past: Mao and the Cultural Revolution by Mobo Gao
The Private Life of Chairman Mao by Li Zhi-Sui
Friday, March 5, 2010
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3 comments:
this is great and all but how about giving a reference to a book that accurately depicts Maos true life
Great but you leave no reference as to what book/s do depict a true account of Maos life. I would like to read about him, however, ever review I read about any book based on his life say they are all b.s.
I did give a reference. Mobo Gao's book "The Battle for China's Past: Mao and the Cultural Revolution" is a good book about his life. Mobo Gao has plenty of good books on China. Then there are books about Mao's era in China such as Fanshen and "China: Revolution and Counterrevolution."
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