Wild Swans
Chinese history has always been uncharted territory for me. I learned about the Civil War, the Kuomintang, all through oblique references from books that covered other, larger events that concerned Western authors.
Yet, it is a persistent question - how did this country of emerge from a myopic Communist rule into two decades of unprecendented growth and subsequent transformation into one of the largest economies of the world? Its economic achievements is nothing short of a miracle, yet it was born of a most painful gestation.
It was in this tumultous period of China’s 20th century history that Jung Chang’s Wild Swans chronicles her family’s fortune as they were buffetted by the raging forces of chaos that engulfed the country. They lived through the Sino-Japanese war in Machuria, under Japanese occupation, the civil war between the KMT and the Communists, and finally had to endure two and a half decades of Chairman Mao’s tyranny.
Here, the author describes first hand experiences about how Mao’s “Great Leap Forward” brought the entire nation to the brink of starvation in his attempt to raise steel production to the levels of Western nations. And this was not all - the tragic tale continues about how the personality cult of Mao allowed the Cultural Revolution to terrorize the entire population and to send millions into reformation camps. Her family suffered denunciations and forced labour as they were tyrannized by Mao’s Red Guard.
These memoirs are fascinating because it helps me understand a little more of China’s recent past, especially the violence and terror from which the society has emerged.
It is interesting to know that Mao was not held accountable for the misery of millions under his rule. Instead, he is still revered by the Communist Party as its founder. Outside China, his name does not evoke the distaste of other 20th century tyrants such as Hitler or Stalin - in Singapore, the House of Mao is a chic restaurant styled in the decor of his Red Guard and covered with memorabilia from the Cultural Revolution.
Five stars - excellent reading.