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May 10, 2021 atYan’ana vendor is selling portraits of Xi Jinping and Mao Zedong. (Photo credit: HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images)
30 years ago, in 1994,Mao ZedongdoctorLi ZhisuiPublished “Mao Zedong” in the United Statespersonal doctorMemoirs”. This book revealed the hidden and unknown side of Mao Zedong and attracted global attention at the time. There was a broad consensus in China and around the world at that time that it was unlikely that China and the CCP would ever see someone like Mao Zedong again in the future.dictator. However, less than 20 years later, China’s current leadersXi JinpingIt is showing a posture that is “not Mao Zedong, but better than Mao Zedong.” As a result, the book “Memoirs of Mao Zedong’s Personal Physician” has a meaning that people could not see when it was first published – it provides an important and interesting reference for people to understand Xi Jinping, who claims to imitate Mao Zedong.
The real situation of Mao Zedong’s anti-rightist campaign
In 1994, Random House in the United States published Dr. Li Zhisui’s memoir “The Private Life of Chairman Mao”, which recorded his more than 20 years of working with Mao Zedong. The Chinese version of this book is titled “Memoirs of Mao Zedong’s Personal Physician”.
Hu Ping, a scholar who was the editor-in-chief of the political magazine “Beijing Spring” at the time, had long studied philosophy and Chinese politics and was familiar with literature on Chinese politics. Hu Ping recalled his feelings when he first read “Memoirs of Mao Zedong’s Personal Physician”:
“The first feeling is that this book is unique. Because it provides us with a unique perspective and allows us to see a Mao Zedong that no one else can see. This enriches and deepens our understanding of Mao Zedong. , and also confirms some of our understandings. For example, Li Zhisui wrote in his memoirs that in my hindsight, if the opinions raised by the democrats did not involve Mao, then the Cultural Revolution would definitely have. It happened 10 years earlier in 1957 instead of 1966.
This view coincides with mine. I originally thought that when Mao Zedong launched the rectification call in 1957 and people gave their opinions to the (Chinese Communist Party) Party, they did not make up their minds from the beginning to fish for big fish and lure snakes out of their holes, but they misjudged the situation. He called on everyone to provide opinions to the party. What he originally thought was that everyone would respond to the great leader’s call, criticize those in power at all levels, and support the absolute authority of the great leader Mao Zedong, just like the Cultural Revolution.
Unexpectedly, at the beginning of the rectification movement, various criticisms came one after another, not only those in power at all levels were criticized, but he, an old monk, was also criticized. He couldn’t stand it anymore. He turned against him and launched an anti-rightist campaign, turning the rectification movement into an anti-rightist movement.
At this point, Dr. Li Zhisui’s book provides us with a very important fact that no one else can know. That is, as a doctor, he noticed that in mid-May of 1957, when Mao Zedong had just launched the rectification movement When he became anti-rightist, Mao Zedong was in a very bad mood. He lay in bed all day long, depressed, and even caught a cold. He was called back. Mao’s sleep was even more irregular.
His (Li Zhisui’s) special observation angle allowed us to know the true situation of Mao Zedong’s anti-rightist campaign from Mao Zedong’s physical and emotional conditions at that time. This is a unique value of this book. ”
Can Xi Jinping be a little Mao Zedong?
Can Xi Jinping be a little Mao Zedong? Mao is a very special person. (Picture source: Composite picture Jin Tao dark self-made picture)
Speaking of Xi Jinping’s claims and efforts to imitate Mao Zedong, Perry Link, professor of Chinese literature and language at the University of California, Riverside, said:
“Xi Jinping certainly hopes to be like Mao Zedong. He does not have many other knowledge resources, his education and cultural level are not high, and he has never traveled abroad. Therefore, when he came up, he felt that I have to do something. He There is a kind of anxiety. Then, his only knowledge and resource is to go back to Mao Zedong. I think he consciously imitated it.
Of course, there are many aspects of his superficial imitation, right down to the sloganeering. I remember that around 1967, Lin Biao advised the Chinese people nationwide to read Chairman Mao’s books, listen to Chairman Mao’s words, and act according to Chairman Mao’s instructions. Then, about two or three years ago, I noticed that Xi Jinping used the exact same words, but replaced them with Chairman Xi instead of Chairman Mao. ”
“So at this level, of course he can imitate Mao Zedong. But to go more profoundly to recreate the atmosphere and society of the Mao Zedong era, that is a completely different issue. I think it is quite different. Of course, the same thing is, Many people are overly enthusiastic about extreme communism or nationalism. This kind of thinking among young people is the same. But on a deeper level, I think it is quite different, because now the Internet has come, of course, the Communist Party also controls the Internet. , but in any case, after China’s society has the Internet, it is very different from the society during Mao Zedong’s period. People in Mao Zedong’s period were alone and could only think about themselves. They did not know that others had the same thoughts as them. They have ideas but don’t know them, so there is an atmosphere of isolation. Now with the Internet, there is a lot of collective thinking, including a kind of spontaneous consciousness that can be said to be from the bottom up. The people of today are quite different from the people of Chairman Mao. ”
“So, does Xi Jinping want to be a little Mao Zedong? I think it’s difficult. First, the society is so different, and second, he himself is not as cunning as Mao Zedong. But Mao Zedong is ‘more capable’ after all. Mao Zedong was a very special person ”
Detailed presentation of the tyrant’s daily life
Andrew Nathan, a professor of political science at Columbia University in the United States, has long studied modern Chinese politics. He participated in the publication of Dr. Li Zhisui’s book from beginning to end.
When “Memoirs of Mao Zedong’s Personal Physician” was officially published, Li Anyou wrote a preface for the book, pointing out that this book is unique in world history because people have never seen a long-term companion of a dictatorial tyrant write such a book. A book that details the daily life and behavior of a tyrant, which is usually kept secret from the outside world.
Li Anyou wrote in the preface: “Psychological pathology spreads in the atmosphere of (Mao Zedong’s) palace politics. The more complete Mao Zedong’s control, the more afraid he was of others trying to control him. They painstakingly tried their best to please him, but instead made him feel that they More suspicious.” In Li Anyou’s view, Xi Jinping’s palace politics today is even worse than Mao Zedong’s. ”
Li Anyou said: “If a person has so much power in his hands, it will cause various psychological problems. His own psychological problem is that if he appoints a successor, he will be afraid that the successor may be anxious to replace him. . Therefore, in Mao’s era, Liu Shaoqi was his successor. Later, he (Mao) defeated Liu Shaoqi, and then Lin Biao. So far, Xi Jinping has avoided this issue, so he has no reason to have a successor. Maybe it’s fear.”
“If there is a successor, people who oppose him will gather around this successor and may bring him down. So, the problem of (psychological pathology) exists.”
Palace politics in Xi Jinping’s era is more sinister than Mao’s
Hu Ping believes that it is an obvious fact that the palace politics of today’s Xi Jinping era is more sinister than that of Mao’s era.
He said: “There is no doubt that this state of palace politics in China still exists, and it can be said that it is more serious than before. If you think about it, Mao Zedong launched various movements since he came to power in 1949, including the subsequent Lushan Conference, including During the Cultural Revolution, batch after batch of officials at all levels were purged, including the two successors he designated. His power became more and more concentrated and expanded.
But at the same time, he also felt more and more insecure, because the more enemies he purged, the more people he knocked down, the more enemies he made for himself. Therefore, he increasingly felt that no one around him could be trusted and everyone wanted to harm him. So he fell into such a fear, such a morbid state. ”
“Xi Jinping’s situation is just like him. Since Xi Jinping came to power, he first launched a major purge in the name of anti-corruption, and successively purged high-level figures in the party, including Bo Xilai, Zhou Yongkang, and Ling Jihua. After he came to power, Over the course of more than ten years, he purged an unprecedented number of senior Chinese officials, especially military generals.
How can you expect Xi Jinping to feel safe in this situation? Especially after the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the people around him were supposedly promoted by himself. The Jiang Zemin faction and the Hu Jintao faction were Xu Caihou and Guo Boxiong (who had been purged long ago). But. Xi Jinping still purged batch after batch. Although Mao Zedong did not trust many people at that time, he at least never doubted the loyalty of Wang Dongxing, the man around him. But if you look at Xi Jinping now, even the so-called Central Guard Corps, now called the Central Guard Bureau, he doesn’t even trust these people, and he has replaced them one after another. A few others died mysteriously. ”
Understanding the tragedy of Mao Zedong’s era is of great significance
Dr. Li Zhisui’s “Memoirs of Mao Zedong’s Personal Physician” recounted many of Mao Zedong’s shocking words and deeds that were not made public. Which of these incidents has the most educational value for the world to understand today’s China and its ruler Xi Jinping? As a professor of political science, Li Anyou’s opinion is:
“There may be two aspects. On the one hand, if power is too concentrated, does it mean that people dare to tell the truth, or are they afraid of telling the truth? Although a democratic system has many problems, one of the more prominent problems is the truth , because in many aspects, in politics, in the opposition party, and in the media, there are many people who dare to tell the truth. But if it is an authoritarian system, if no one dares to tell the truth, the leader will not have reliable information to decide policies.
Another aspect is also very interesting. This is the relationship between political power and life. What I mean is, if a person has a lot of power in his hands, will he abuse this power and use others as tools? Mao is like this. He also showed in his life that his general attitude towards others is to treat others as tools rather than as independent and valuable beings. ”
Hu Ping believes that reading Li Zhisui’s book and understanding the Mao Zedong era is of great significance to understanding the Xi Jinping era. He said:
“Li Zhisui talked about many things. Among them, he said that if Mao Zedong knew the truth of the matter in the early days of the Great Leap Forward, he might not be unwilling to prevent the catastrophe and famine; of course, if Mao Zedong knew that the Great Leap Forward was not a great A good harvest does not mean that the yield per mu exceeds 10,000 kilograms, etc. Although he is a dictatorial tyrant, he subjectively does not want the Chinese people to die.
But here’s the problem. His repressive rule itself created a system of lies, and he himself was surrounded by lies. And when he discovers a problem and corrects others, things will be very serious, because correcting mistakes directly threatens his own authority. In this way, the tyrant is more willing to make mistakes right through to the end.
We know that there is such an example in “The Romance of the Three Kingdoms”. Yuan Shao was stubborn and did not listen to the advice of his adviser Tian Feng in the Battle of Guandu. He even imprisoned Tian Feng. Later, he was defeated by Cao Cao. When the news of the defeat came, the jailer told Tian Feng: You see, the lord did not listen to you, and the battle was defeated. Now you may be able to recover. Tian Feng said, “That’s not the case. If the lord wins the battle, I may still be alive; if the lord is defeated, then I will definitely die.” As a result, Yuan Shao killed Tian Feng when he came back. This was the case with Mao Zedong. He launched the Great Leap Forward and established public canteens in the people’s communes. By the second half of 1958 and the first half of 1959, there was already a serious famine, and people were starving to death. ”
“But he doesn’t like people who tell the truth. When he finds that correcting a mistake may weaken his authority, he will not correct the mistake, but stick to the mistake, make it wrong or worse. I think this is This is a very important characteristic of communist autocracy. This point can be said to be fully revealed in Li’s book, and I think it is quite enlightening for our understanding of Xi Jinping’s rule.”
Is a crisis brewing as the desperate Chinese people lie flat?
The saying of “lying flat” is popular in China today, and many people also choose to lie flat. It seems to show that many Chinese people now feel desperate and helpless towards the rule of the Communist Party of China, just like Li Zhisui described in his book the last years of Mao Zedong’s rule. This situation makes many people wonder, when facing this desperate and helpless situation, besides choosing to escape or choose to curse, what other better way do the Chinese have?
When asked this question, Li Anyou, a political science professor at Columbia University who studies contemporary Chinese politics, said:
“As a foreigner, I can’t give any advice to the Chinese. But if we look at the 1989 Democracy Movement, the disintegration of the communist regimes in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, or what happened recently in Venezuela and Bangladesh, there is one The lesson is that if the psychology of most people develops to a certain point, sooner or later a crisis will occur. In other words, if people can no longer endure, sooner or later an internal crisis will occur, and everyone will come out to oppose it sooner or later. those in power).
“At the same time, we don’t know when this situation will happen. So if that time has not yet arrived, what kind of attitude should be adopted? One is like Liu Xiaobo, or like (former Czechoslovak President) Watts Like Rafael Havel, we should try our best to live in truth (that is, try not to deceive ourselves) and try to live according to reality. My own statement is that I am probably not qualified to tell Chinese people how to live.”
Scholar Hu Ping believes that although today’s Chinese politics makes many people feel helpless, there is still a certain space between the current situation and despair. He said:
“Lying down itself is a kind of resistance. When the people generally feel disgusted and express rejection, but at the same time they do not have the strength to carry out frontal and active resistance, people will adopt this so-called lying down method, which is also It’s the so-called way of squeezing foreign workers. In the Mao era, we saw this kind of resistance. In fact, there is a special academic term for this, and it is not the same as in the past. , which makes the people below, the workers, peasants and soldiers not give you a chance if you try hard, because no matter how hard you try, you can’t improve your own situation. Now China has such a certain space for private enterprises. On the other hand, many people in some departments need to work harder just to improve their own survival. Therefore, the degree and breadth of this kind of work is still different from that in the late Mao era.”
“This situation, this state, this kind of workmanship, it is actually continuing to accumulate dissatisfaction. It will always find its own outlet.”
Li Zhisui’s “Memoirs of Mao Zedong’s Personal Physician” has become a classic document for studying Mao Zedong and the Mao Zedong era since its publication 30 years ago. But in China, this book, which helps to understand the past and present of the Chinese Communist regime, has always been banned.
(This article is slightly abridged)
Source: Voice of America
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