Red in Tooth and Claw: Twenty-Six Years in Communist Chinese Prisons [Hardcover]

Wu-Ming-Shih (Author), Pu Ning (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1994

The author, a political prisoner in China until 1981, records the story of Han Wei T'ien, arrested as a spy for Chiang Kai-shek during the Korean War and interned in a series of shockingly brutal jails and reeducation camps.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this extraordinary book the distinguished Chinese author Pu Ning relates the story of one man's imprisonment in Red China's "labor correction" system between 1951 and 1976. Han Wei-tien, arrested as a suspected Nationalist spy, was a laborer on the construction of the Chinghai-to-Tibet road under conditions so harsh that Pu Ning estimates the project "resulted in more senseless deaths than did the construction of the Egyptian pyramids." Senseless death is the focus of this blood-drenched narrative, a record of wanton cruelty on a breathtaking scale. Han's worst ordeal, described in wrenching detail, was a year-and-a-half's confinement at the bottom of a dry well. But then a miracle occurred: a nomadic Tibetan fell in love with Han and, despite her knowledge that he was a convict, entered into a long affair with him and saved him from starvation and freezing on several occasions. Han now lives in Taiwan.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Himself imprisoned for short periods of time and under constant surveillance by the Chinese Comunists, Pu is well qualified to tell the story of Han Wei T'ien, a military official working for the Nationalists, who was captured by the Communists in 1951 and imprisoned for 26 years. The two meant in Taiwan where both had immigrated. Pu wrote this book to remind the public that the most recent crackdown on prodemocracy demonstrators at Tiananmen Square is characteristic of the Chinese Communist regime. In narrating Han's story, he focuses on how political prisoners are used as slaves in labor camps. Absent is a description of "thought reform" campaigns, which probably have been overanalyzed by Western China scholars anyway; but the political context within which the Chinese Communist Party came to power should have been covered in some fashion. Nonetheless, Han's story is compelling and heart-wrenching. For another account of the Chinese labor camps, see Harry Wu's Bitter Winds , LJ 1/94.--Ed.
- Peggy Spitzer Christoff, Oak Park, Ill .
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 228 pages
• Publisher: Grove Pr; 1st English language ed edition (April 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802114547
• ISBN-13: 978-0802114549
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #205,753 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #63 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Ethnic & National > Chinese

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I thought the story was well written., May 12, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Red in Tooth and Claw: Twenty-Six Years in Communist Chinese Prisons (Hardcover)

I thought the book looked interesting, and it was. Many of the parts in the book show the hardships of many Chinese that did not agree with the communist views. Han, although a spy, was also a teacher by occupation. My theory is that the political unrest that took place in China was a holocaust, very much like the holocaust during WWII, where the slaying of millions of Jews took place. Many of you don't agree with me, but that is my personal opinion. I don't think that what Han did was wrong, at any point in time, especially when it said he was standing up for his own political views. I recommend this book to anyone studying CHina's cultural revolution and political history.