Zhou Enlai: The Last Perfect Revolutionary
Encyclopedia
Zhou Enlai: The Last Perfect Revolutionary, ISBN:1586486454, is a book written by Gao Wenqian
. Before escaping to the United States in 1993, Gao had been a researcher at CPC Central Party Literature Research Center, where he penned the official biographies of Zhou Enlai
and Mao Zedong
. The book was published in 2008 by Public Affair in English. Based on secret and classified Chinese archives documents smuggled out of China, the book is a biography of Zhou Enlai
, the Premier of China from 1949 to 1976, one of the most important Chinese leaders of his generation. Zhou is portrayed as "a conflicted, even tragic, figure", succeeding in remaining at the center stage of Chinese politics for fifty years, through the troubled years of the Long March
and Cultural Revolution
. In 2003 Gao wrote a similar book in Chinese, Zhou Enlai's Later Years (晚年周恩来), using similar research materials.
Dong Wang, at the UCLA, shares a similar view, stating that "Mr. Gao’s unprecedented work reveals Zhou to be a tragic hero who had a very complex character". Lucian Pye
, in Foreign Affairs
, credits the book as "further proof of the payoffs of telling the truth about politically sensitive matters" and congratulates it for ultimately helping to "secure a positive memory of Zhou".
The author, Gao Wenqian, has criticized that some of the reception to his book "seem to misread and hence exaggerate the extent to which [he] is critical of Zhou". According to Gao, "his attitude toward Zhou is neither to conceal his faults, nor to excoriate him" and that, "as he himself later revealed, he was quite "sympathetic" toward Zhou".
Gao Wenqian
Gao Wenqian is the Senior Policy Advisor at Human Rights in China.He was previously a researcher at CPC Central Party Literature Research Center, where he penned the official biographies of Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong after the Cultural Revolution...
. Before escaping to the United States in 1993, Gao had been a researcher at CPC Central Party Literature Research Center, where he penned the official biographies of Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai was the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, serving from October 1949 until his death in January 1976...
and Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
. The book was published in 2008 by Public Affair in English. Based on secret and classified Chinese archives documents smuggled out of China, the book is a biography of Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai was the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, serving from October 1949 until his death in January 1976...
, the Premier of China from 1949 to 1976, one of the most important Chinese leaders of his generation. Zhou is portrayed as "a conflicted, even tragic, figure", succeeding in remaining at the center stage of Chinese politics for fifty years, through the troubled years of the Long March
Long March
The Long March was a massive military retreat undertaken by the Red Army of the Communist Party of China, the forerunner of the People's Liberation Army, to evade the pursuit of the Kuomintang army. There was not one Long March, but a series of marches, as various Communist armies in the south...
and Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
. In 2003 Gao wrote a similar book in Chinese, Zhou Enlai's Later Years (晚年周恩来), using similar research materials.
Reception
The book has been praised for portraying Zhou Enlai as a human, and not a political or ideological icon, by both presenting the man's flaws and his successes. Peter Ritter of Time Magazine praises the book for depicting both sides of the Premier; as thoughtful and cultured, yet ultimately obedient to Mao whims, as "an active, if not always enthusiastic, participant". Ritter concludes that Gao's book creates "a conflicted, even tragic, figure".Dong Wang, at the UCLA, shares a similar view, stating that "Mr. Gao’s unprecedented work reveals Zhou to be a tragic hero who had a very complex character". Lucian Pye
Lucian Pye
Lucian W. Pye was a political scientist, sinologist and comparative politics expert considered one of the leading China scholars in the United States...
, in Foreign Affairs
Foreign Affairs
Foreign Affairs is an American magazine and website on international relations and U.S. foreign policy published since 1922 by the Council on Foreign Relations six times annually...
, credits the book as "further proof of the payoffs of telling the truth about politically sensitive matters" and congratulates it for ultimately helping to "secure a positive memory of Zhou".
The author, Gao Wenqian, has criticized that some of the reception to his book "seem to misread and hence exaggerate the extent to which [he] is critical of Zhou". According to Gao, "his attitude toward Zhou is neither to conceal his faults, nor to excoriate him" and that, "as he himself later revealed, he was quite "sympathetic" toward Zhou".