A great man in his twilight years: Does a true hero have
to be heartless? Surely a real man may love his young son.[1]
(Translator’s note: This book review was posted on the
leftist Chinese website, Utopia, on August 30, 2022. It is an appreciation of
Mao’s personal character and love for his people.)
At first glance, the title of gives you a sense of its
distinctiveness. The so-called "last seven years" refers to the
period from Mao Zedong: The Stormy Road of his Last Seven Years 1970 to
1976. It has an extraordinary significance for Chairman Mao personally and for
the history of the People's Republic of China as a whole.
From reading the ancient book "old tears and
weeping"[2],
to watching movies "couldn't hold back the old tears, and the film had to
be interrupted", and even "howling and crying" when he heard the
great shock[3].
The broad sentiments of the common people are beyond words, and the descendants
will surely mourn him even thousands of years later.
Wang Xinde, a member of Chairman Mao's medical team and a
specialist in neurology and geriatrics, recalled: "The reports sent in on
the earthquake were all personally looked into by the Chairman, despite his
personal illness.
“The earthquake killed more than 240,000 people, and the
other damage was incalculable. When the secretary reported the extremely heavy
damage caused by the earthquake, the Chairman wept - the first time I had seen
him bawling in person." It was a really emotional read, tossing and
turning.
Does a true hero have to be heartless? Surely a real man may
love his young son. Chairman Mao believed in the masses all his life, relied on
the masses, emphasized organizing and educating the masses, and maintained a
deep and natural affection for the masses. What is more, what about such a rare
earthquake? The earth moved, the people suffered, people's livelihoods were
difficult, the country's fortunes were up and down, and it was a national
tragedy to cry out.
Judging from the author's records, Chairman Mao has a strong
affection for Lin Biao, who betrayed the country, for Liu Shaoqi, who did not
support the Cultural Revolution, and for Deng Xiaoping, who was removed from
office as a capitalist-roader[4].
"Rain will fall, and women will marry. Let him go."[5]
This is the helplessness and sadness towards Lin who was repeatedly given
opportunities to correct his mistakes. At that time, Chairman Mao was more
heartbroken than anyone else.
After reading this book, the vivid image of Chairman Mao's
last seven years remains before my eyes and in my heart. Undoubtedly, Chairman
Mao was a great man among great men, a man of family and country, with a heart
that was endowed with ideals from his youth, and who never wavered in his
determination; Chairman Mao was also a warm figure, all poetic, and in his
later years he was so emotionally turbulent that a single lyric could make him
lose his voice and cry.
Many people are evaluating the merits and faults of Chairman
Mao. After reading the book, I feel that the Foolish Old Man[6]
Chairman Mao is worthy of the people, he is a party leader who adheres to the
party spirit and strictly adheres to the party discipline, at all times and in
all places, he is devoted to the people's blood.
In private, from the three 28-year journeys of his life, it
is clear that he never thought of himself, and his children were not given
special care because of their special status. In his later years, Chairman Mao
was alone, but with the building and future of a new China in his heart.
It can be said that the Lin Biao incident dealt a heavy blow
to Chairman Mao's expectations of a successor and destroyed his health. The
relentless contradictions of ideal and reality, time and space plagued this
ageing giant.
Even in his twilight years, even though he was suffering
from the loneliness of countless people who did not understand or approve of
him, and even though he faced the constant pain of his illness, he was still
able to look at his illness with the same determination as a mountain and carry
out his heavy and tiring work.
Even with a serious eye disease and a serious decline in
physical functions, he still kept on pursuing progress and made time to swim in
the sea of learning. This book made me feel deeply the greatness and fearlessness
of a soul with its head held high, an unreachable beacon in the history of the
human spirit!
I am not so politically savvy, but I am convinced: the study
and summing up of his later years will require many generations of calm and
serious contemplation.
The greatest feeling one gets from this book is that the
reason why Chairman Mao is worshipped by the people like a god is because he
had the people in his heart and the suffering people all over the world; that
Chairman Mao was loved by the people because he was clothed, fed and housed
like the ordinary people, and that he was truly the people's son; that Chairman
Mao is loved by the brotherly friendship of the Third World, including Asia,
Africa and Latin America, because he understands that true friendship is seen
in times of trouble; that Chairman Mao was held in awe by the heads of world
powers because of his wisdom and foresight, having seen the world so clearly
that, in the words of Nixon's memoirs, "I dared not speak much before him;
his eyes seemed to have seen straight through me " and "I was like an
erring student. He was like a stern gentleman who did not dare to say
much".
This book was written by writer Gu Baozi, whose vision of
the red years was always full of passion and dreams. In special times, the
leader's attempt is only for a "better life" for the country; "dreams
are essentially the predecessor of ideals. It does take a lot to realise that
ideal."
This historically rich documentary work objectively portrays
Chairman Mao's last seven years of his life, and truly recreates a series of
major historical events and state affairs of the Republic from 1970 to 1976.
Based on available historical materials and first-hand
materials, the work is written with the same rigour as the creation of
historical subjects. "The book is a vivid restoration of the great and
ordinary deeds of historical figures such as Chairman Mao and Zhou Enlai, and
the death of the first generation of leaders and the crushing of the "Gang
of Four".
The book contains nearly 200 rare historical photographs,
all taken exclusively by Zhongnanhai photographer Mr Du Xiuxian. Many of these
photographs are being published for the first time, and many are restored to
colour for the first time. They tell the story of the fate of many political
figures, reflecting their flesh-and-blood realities as well as recording the
ups and downs of their political careers and journeys. Undoubtedly, "Mao
Zedong: The Stormy Road of his Last Seven Years " is a rare
documentary with rich illustrations, informative materials, authentic content,
vivid and interesting, readable and collectible at the same time.
This is the first book to focus on the last seven years of
the great man's life, recalling the stormy years of the Republic and recreating
the life of Chairman Mao in his twilight years.
The twilight of a martyr is a magnificent time. The twilight
of a great man is also the most glorious and magnificent of all.
Translated from: 伟人迟暮：无情未必真豪杰，怜民如何不丈夫－乌有之乡
(wyzxwk.com)
[1]
These are lines from Lu Xun’s poem Riposte to a friend, reflecting his
love for the younger generation.
[2]
This is a line from the Tang Dynasty poet Du Fu's "Three Songs of Qiang
Village". It captures Mao’s response to reading a lament from the
past. In mid-1975, Chairman Mao suffered from cataracts and was nearly blind in
both eyes. Later, after ophthalmic surgery, he could only see with one eye. One
day, the attending physician Tang Youzhi went to visit Chairman Mao and found Chairman
Mao holding a book in his hand, and the old man was weeping, but there were no
tears because of his eye problems. Chairman Mao was reading the Southern Song
Dynasty poet Chen Liang's "Nian Nu Jiao Dengduojing Lou" which
expressed sadness at the failure to unify the north and south of China.
[3]
This refers to the Tangshan Earthquake.
[4]
The author disguises these references to escape detection by algorithmic searches.
The three persons are only referred to by their surnames, and the pinyin words “ge”
(revolution) and “zi” (capitalist) are used in place of characters: “对于叛国的林，到不支持文ge的刘，包括被作为走zi派罢免职务的邓”.
[5]
This fatalistic expression was used by Mao when told of Lin Biao’s flight and
attempted escape from China.
[6] If
you are unsure of this reference, please see: THE
FOOLISH OLD MAN WHO REMOVED THE MOUNTAINS (marxists.org)
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