MAO TSE-TUNG: The Man and the Myth

by Eric Chou ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 1981

It's hardly surprising that the Great Helmsman didn't live up to his godly image, but Chou, who left China in 1961 and now lives and teaches in England, is intent on portraying Mae as a Satan with a red star. Chou's Mae is unintelligent, dedicated to his own power, incapable of basic human feelings, and generally the sort of rat who, during the Long March, rode a horse while his pregnant wife walked. Mae only succeeded, in this account, because everyone else was a bungler. Biographers of the Chinese leader have always made a great deal of Mao's hostility toward his father, but Chou outdoes them all: to him, this flagrant defiance of honor to the father (and ancestors generally) is so un-Chinese as to be sinister. Chou isn't content, moreover, with the usual Mae fare; he even makes a point of talking about how bad Mao's calligraphy was, accusing him of allowing everyone to copy his style and thereby setting back that particular art. Needless to say, Chou heartily approves of the current de-Maoification campaign, though he is doubtful that the curse can be completely wiped away and foresees instead competing schools of Maoism. That moderate prediction may be the most Judicious statement in the book. Look to Ross Terrill and Dick Wilson for better, if not ideal, treatments.

Pub Date: July 1, 1981

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Stein & Day

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1981

Categories: NONFICTION