With all the names, dates, places, meetings and detailed discussions of topics like the provenance of the tag-line phrases "initial stage of socialism" and "socialist spiritual civilization," Zhao Ziyang's posthumously published memoir - and it is surely Zhao who is speaking to us here - is indeed a true China wonk's book, filled with content that will be revelatory to anyone who knows the period and participants. It is above all the most important document by a senior leader operating in a closed political system since _Khrushchev Remembers_, primarily because, like the Tiananmen Papers, it lifts the veil on political life among the handful of decisionmakers in the People's Republic.
And some of this - but not very much - is in the Tiananmen Papers. For the most part, however, Zhao is laying in his own record of events that he personally participated in, leading with the Tiananmen incident of June 1989, but going back to the beginnings of reform and opening, for which Zhao's leadership in Sichuan province (and Wan Li's in Anhui) were seminal in the testing of agricultural reforms that were the foundation of China's present relative prosperity, and forward to an evaluation of China after Zhao's political demise and Zhao's evaluation of the leaders he worked with during nearly a decade at the center of the storm in Beijing.
Throughout, Zhao relies on what must have been a prodigious memory - assisted, almost certainly, by former assistant Bao Tong and other friends and colleagues. It's interesting, though, that Zhao gets some dates wrong (as pointed out by editorial notes by Bao Pu, son of Bao Tong), which suggests that, unlike most other memoirists, he had no documentation to work from and had to rely solely on his own notes and recall. From Zhao we get marvelous glimpses of how petty and preening life at the top was - and almost certainly remains, in a land where Politburo members are treated, except by themselves, as living gods. Moreover, following reports of a meeting between Deng and two other of the "Eight Immortal" senior party elders, Zhao gives a nod to their characterization of Deng's role as an authoritative "mother-in-law" to the Politburo Standing Committee, observing that this was an apt way of describing how the system worked. We also get detailed confirmation of how great a pack of old fools, opportunists, and ideologues were men like Li Xiannian, Bo Yibo, Li Peng, Yao Yilin, Hu Qiaomu, and Deng Liqun. Peng Zhen, the "grinning tiger," on the other hand, comes off rather well (as he does in the Tiananmen Papers, lobbying for the moderate reformer Wan Li to replace Zhao as party chief), as does Hu Qili, who was tossed overboard along with Zhao in May 1989.
Readers will want to know what Zhao, reflecting in his long political exile, ultimately thought of Deng Xiaoping, father of China's modern economy. Zhao provides a balanced appraisal of Deng, filled with gratitude at the opportunities Deng extended to him and at the same time pointing out problems of Deng's making, underscoring the fact that Deng was an economic liberal who wanted to unleash market forces in China but was NEVER a political reformer; instead, Deng was the driving force behind a host of "anti-liberal" campaigns that Chinese and Western analysts alike had attributed primarily to Chen Yun, Hu Qiaomu, and Deng Liqun and that created problems and contradictions within the reform movement. Zhao also provides a balanced, sympathetic account of his predecessor as party general secretary, Hu Yaobang, whose great-hearted impetuousness sped him to an early political demise, primarily, in Zhao's estimation, because Hu failed to take Deng's political conservatism and absolute deference to the Communist Party's political primacy more seriously and immediately.
Specialists will find this book thoroughly engrossing and the voice absolutely authentic. I'm astonished, however, that Simon and Schuster didn't see fit to help specialists and generalists out by including an index. The book does have a very useful 15 pp dramatis personae for which many, like readers of Russian novels, will be grateful. As Zhao's apology, this is a good one, and Zhao gives himself a good deal of credit for China's early advances in economic reform. He should: he was literally at the center of the storm during the seminal years of transformation and held the field against determined political foes. Many of his ideas, bloodied and battered, have been realized or remain in play, continuing to shape the debate particularly about political reform. One hopes that some day Chinese citizens will be able to freely acknowledge their debt to this their great countryman and mention him in the same breath as Deng Xiaoping, whose close colleague, idea man, sounding board, and implementing agent he was for the foundational decade.
Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime
and start saving today with fast, free delivery
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Join or create book clubs
Choose books together
Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Frequently bought together
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
About the author
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Top reviews from other countries
soulier joann
Journal de la vie de Zhao Ziyang et ses postes officiels dans le gouvernement de Mao.
Reviewed in France on January 7, 2013Isaac Ho
Learn the Truth and it will set one free...!
Reviewed in Canada on May 17, 2009
Stephan Ortmann
A Fascinating Read of Power-Politics in China before 1989
Reviewed in Germany on December 2, 2009M.H. Bischoff
Excellent ouvrage pour quiconque cherche à comprendre la trajectoire sinueuse ...
Reviewed in Canada on November 7, 2014