Customer Reviews

The Man on Mao's Right: From Harvard Yard to Tiananmen Square, My Life Inside China's Foreign Ministry

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Read this book if you want to understand the foreign policy of the Peoples Republic of China, or want guidance from an expert on how to keep your sanity and morality in a bureaucracy, or if you just want a very good story.

In the fall of 1950, at the age of 21, Ji Chaozhu returned to his native China after an absence of 12 years. He left a comfortable middle class life as a Harvard undergraduate scholarship student at a time of increasingly virulent anti-communism in this country. China was on the verge of a shooting war with the USA in Korea, and he literally stepped through the looking glass into an upside down world of opposites. In China it was politically dangerous even to be suspected of intellectual or bourgeois tendencies; membership in the Communist Party was a privilege which it took him years to achieve; to fight against the USA backed forces in Korea was a patriotic duty for which he quickly volunteered. On a more personal level, Chaozhu had to relearn his first language, get used to a new and substantially reduced diet, and - perhaps most difficult of all - adapt to the use of a traditional "squat" toilet.

This is the story of his 50 year odyssey through the hierarchy of the Chinese Foreign Ministry from lowly translator at Panmunjom to Ambassador to the Court of St. James and Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations. His original intention when he returned home was to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry and help China to develop an atomic bomb, but his knowledge of English and American culture was a rare commodity in China at that time and proved much more valuable to the Government, so he parlayed that skill along with his good humor and good sense into a career working steadfastly towards the goal of establishing peace and cooperation between China and the USA.

Along the way there were many twists and turns - tragic, exasperating, comical and unhealthy. He spent several long periods living away from his family working on farms in the country standing up to his knees in cold mud leaning over to plant rice seedlings, or carrying human waste to the fields in buckets to fertilize the crops. These stints were supposed to correct his bourgeois tendencies and help him identify with the peasants. He survived cold, heat, fleas, hunger, unsanitary conditions and primitive plumbing, but even more challenging were the internal politics and ideological twists and turns of programs like the Great Leap Forward, and the Cultural Revolution. He gained the confidence and protection of Premier Zhou Enlai, whom he served as translator on many important missions, on occasion being hurriedly summoned from the farm and appearing with manure still under his fingernails.

Ideologues on both the left and the right will find much to quibble about in this book. I may have on occasions been guilty of the former tendency and feel uncomfortable about Chaozhu's admiration for and continuing friendship with Henry Kissinger, but I cannot argue with his results. It appears that this relationship was critical to establishing normal and peaceful relations between the USA and China.

When Chaozhu dropped out of Harvard to return home, he left behind a small group of politically sympathetic classmates of whom I was one. To indulge in a little self-criticism, when I discovered that he had left I was guilty of two self-centered feelings: jealousy that he was going home to work for a real revolution and a dense of betrayal that he had gone off and left us to face the excesses of McCarthyism without him. Over the years I heard bits of news and rumors about his career, thought about him often, and wondered what his life was like. Now I know. When I finally picked up this book 58 years later, I couldn't put it down; I read it in one sitting.

Who would imagine the autobiography of a leading Chinese government figure would read like a novel, engaging us with humor, suspense, surprise and the triumph of one man's love for his wife? With a great assist from ghostwriter Foster Winans, that is the difficult literary feat that Ji Chaozhu's "The Man On Mao's Right" accomplishes.

This is also the first true "insider's account" I have read of the creation and evolution of modern China. Thanks to his work as a translator for Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, Ji was literally the fly on the wall during such historic occasions as Nixon's historic visit to China, the negotiations seeking an end to the Korean conflict, and the chaos of the Cultural Revolution.

Having fled the Japanese invasion of China with his parents, Ji spent much of his childhood in the United States, where he attended Harvard University. Devoted to the cause of Chinese socialism, Ji returned to his native land, where he was uniquely able to translate not just the language of the Chinese, but their culture and belief system, for Western leaders.

I cannot but wonder how history might have been different if not for his participation at so many pivotal moments in the evolution of the delicate relationship between China and the US.

"The Man On Mao's Right" is essential reading for anyone who seeks to understand the modern history of China, its motivations, its people and culture. Best of all, this is such an enjoyable read, that it is certain to find an audience far beyond Chinese history buffs.

Ji's life story is the epic odyssey of a Chinese Homer whose quest for his home, and to be with the woman he loves, literally spans the globe and encompasses several generations. "The Man On Mao's Right" is destined to become a classic of its genre.

I knew Ji back in the 70's. At that time none of us, I suspect, had any idea the hardships he had endured in China, particularly during the Cultural Revolution. Toward the end of the book, however, when he gets to Tiananmen, I felt he was trying to set up his readers to conclude (incorrectly) that the Tiananmen demonstrations were essentially a reenactment of the Red Guards/Cultural Revolution excesses and as such deserved to be suppressed by whatever means necessary. This of course is the party line in China and it was disappointed to see someone like Ji parroting it. Toward the end I even began to wonder if the whole purpose of the book was to justify the Tiananmen massacre.
I was also disappointed that Ji denigrated Han Xu, his colleague and sometime superior in the Foreign Office. He depicts Han as hard line, but it was Han (now dead) who was disillusioned by the Tiananmen suppression and, according to people I trust, contemplated seeking refuge in the United States or some other democratic society.

Ambassador Ji Chaozhu's personal journey in the Chinese Foreign Ministry provides vivid and rich details for our understanding of the inner working of Chinese foreign policy-making establishment. From this book, we learn not only real stories of top leaders such as Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Deng Xiaoping, but also personal relations between Ambassador Ji and other senior PRC diplomats such as Huang Zhen, Han Xu, Zhang Wenjin, Nancy Tang and Wang Hairong, and etc. This book is a major addition to the growing literature on PRC diplomacy, and will become an essential reading for any one interested in 20th century China, especially its diplomacy.

For the past 20 years, I've read almost anything I can get my hands
on about China. Out of the novels, biographies and numerous
autobiographies, I always considered "Wild Swans" by Jung Chang
to be at the top of my list. Now its time for that amazing memoir to move over. "The Man on Mao's Right" is my new favorite book on the subject of China. It takes a culture so huge in dimension and makes it personal and more importantly, relevant.

The book holds your attention for its smooth and polished read. Ghost writer Foster Winans is credited in the Preface. The language is very measured, void of the kind of emotions expected from someone who gave up a good life in the west to face tremendous deprivation, stress and betrayal in post-revolutionary China.

The author, who had a US childhood and Harvard education, experienced firsthand, the Japanese bombardment, the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, re-education in the countryside, Nixon's visit to China and a host of other events of the century. One wonders how anyone survived any one of these, since each pushes the limits of human health and stress tolerance.

To cover the full life, each event had to be shorn of details. Because of this, this book can't really be taken alone.

Other books flesh out the times. The Private Life of Chairman Mao is the most complete that I have read. It gives an inside look at how the Great Leap Forward was initiated and later how the Gang of Four controlled most internal and external operations creating a life threatening environment based on pettiness. This background helps to consider how the gift of the glass snail from Corning Glass and small acts such as talking to high school aquantances subjected Ji to more worry than he lets on.

Zhou Enlai: The Last Perfect Revolutionary gives the details of Ji's mentor. This book provides a lot about the "office" politics that Ji only mentions. It gives a more detailed treatment of Zhou's medical (non) treatment and how the "young ladies" monopolized the chairman.

Nixon and Mao: The Week That Changed the World gives perspective on the Nixon visit. China Hands: Nine Decades of Adventure, Espionage, and Diplomacy in Asia gives an American perspective on some of these big events.

Ji Chaozhu was involved in some of the great moments, people, and institutions of the twentieth century, growing up partly in the U.S., attending Harvard, and then returning to participate in Mao's government. Through the magic of memoir writing, I learn about the entire span through his eyes.

This is the third book I've read about the Cultural Revolution. First, Nien Cheng's Life and Death in Shanghai. Second, Apologies Forthcoming a book of short stories by Xujun Eberlein, and now this book. Obviously his view of the Tiananmen Square massacre is apologetic. And he doesn't even bother trying to explain the Tibet invasion, one of the great human and cultural tragedies of our time. I had to take a deep breath when he said the actions of the U.S. in Korea and Taiwan were perfidious. Do I really have to look at yet another U.S. policy from the other side's point of view? Oh, what the heck. How do I expect to ever understand the world unless I see it from other points of view?

The book is remarkably simple and straightforward. Good writing stays out of the way and lets the reader enter. When I finished, I realized with some astonishment how much history I had just walked through, in an engaging, and page-turning story. The book flew by and enriched my life.

A good relationship between China and America is crucial for the future of the world. Period. Therefore, learning the history of recent Chinese politics and the historical relationship between China and America should be mandatory for all Americans, young and old. And what better way to start learning than by reading this very entertaining factual book. This book, written by an interpreter for various high-ranking Chinese officials during the Mao era, is a must-read for those who want an insiders view into the momentous events that occurred in China from the 1950's through recent times. The author is humorous, occassionally self-depreciating, and brutally honest in all he recalls about the great historical events he witnessed close-up in China. Riveting and memorable are two words I can use to describe this book. After reading it, I have a better understanding of what was going on in China when China was "closed" from 1949 to 1976. And, I have a desire to read more from the author. I sincerely hope China and America can grow old together, clean up the environment and always be friends. Nothing less than the future of our planet depends upon it.

Ji Chaozhu held a number of important positions as part of the Chinese government, including interpreter for Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai, Ambassador to Great Britain, and U.N. Under Secretary-General for Economic and Social Development. Born in China, he went to America at age nine to escape Japanese attacks, learn English, and make American friends as part of the revolutionary government's efforts to displace the Nationalists. While attending Harvard (goal was to become a PhD chemist and work on developing an atomic bomb for China), he returned to China during the Korean War - intent on fighting America.

China's government, however, directed Ji to relearn Chinese and resume his studies. Before finishing, however, he was assigned as an interpreter for the peace talks at Panmunjom. Two years later he returned to Bejing with commendations for his work and a medal for bravery (jumping into a pit with a live shell to document its American origin). Assigned to the Foreign Ministry, he began a career as translator for China's top leaders and also resumed his studies.

Ji does acknowledge the excesses and errors of Chairman Mao, but with remarkable brevity - undoubtedly a consequence of both China's continuing news manipulation and Li's repeated experiences with political reversals and internal suspicions/back-stabbing that sent both he and his wife to numerous agrarian "re-education" camps. Nonetheless, Ji maintained his career through the disastrous land reform, "Great Leap Forward," "Great Famine," and the "Cultural Revolution." Readers, however, do not need many details to realize the enormous losses of human lives and personal/political upheavals during Ji's life. Even Premier Zhou and Premier Deng endured years of "re-education," and the former Chinese Marshal in charge of its Korean War efforts was imprisoned, repeatedly humiliated and abused, then beaten to death.

It was also interesting to read how Premier Zhou insisted on observing local (eg. Muslim) customs, and was always solicitous of those serving him - even the cooks and waiters at overseas dinners. Conversely, most early American leaders (eg. John Foster Dulles) were seen as quite rude by the Chinese.

Zhou's death and Mao's impending death acerbated infighting over who would succeed. Originally, the Gang of Four (including Mao's wife) and other reactionaries took over, and both former Premiers Zhou and Deng were denounced as "unrepentant capitalist roaders." Their support stayed strong, however, and eventually the Gang of Four was arrested, Mao's supposed "designated successor" replaced, and Deng became Premier.

Premier Deng then launched a massive push for economic development, urged schools and universities to resume educating China's youth (essentially shut down during the Cultural Revolution), declared poverty as "not the goal of socialism," and the pursuit of prosperity as patriotic. An amazing political turnaround!

This is an excellent book. As you begin to read, you might be taken by the apparent "propaganda" that the author uses to parallel China and the United States. Let me please make it clear that these parts are to be read "in the moment" - that is - the author writes as his mindset is at that particular point in time. For instance, in the beginning of the book he unanimously praises Mao (as that was his mindset in his youth), but near the end he ridicules Mao and Jiang Qing (as he became enlightened to their selfish ways).

After reading this book I would suggest reading "Zhao Enlai: The Last Perfect Revolutionary" as an excellent follow-up on Zhao Enlai.