Article Surfing Archive

Some of what is new in my book, RETURN TO THE MIDDLE KINGDOM, reveals historical details about China unknown in the West, or even in China itself, for that matter. For example, I highlight my late father-in-law Eugene Chen's role in the "Russia-oriented" policy of Sun Yatsen. Eugene was the key, the historical hinge, that led to the alliance of Sun Yatsen's Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) and the Communist Party in early 1920s. This policy opened the door for communists, including Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, to join the Kuomintang; it also gave the governed, for the first time in Chinese history, the right to have their say in the governing, and this began to unleash a power in the vast peasant population never seen before.

For another example, through Jack's and my experiences in the purge called Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), this book sheds light on the infighting between the Party moderates led by Zhou Enlai and the hardliners led by Mao Zedong, thus challenging the unanimous view among scholars and historians that Zhou was a yes man to Mao. Toward the end of 1969, my husband Jack had a pretty clear idea of what the purge was about: Should China join the international community or keep its door closed. He wrote to Zhou Enlai, applying for exit visas to go on the long overdue speech tour in the United States, to speak about China's wish to co-exist in peace and trade with the West.

Zhou granted the exit visas, but the Red Guards, Mao's creation, exiled us to Upper Felicity Village in Henan Province, cut off our recourse for help and plotted to kill us in this backwoods. For nine months we lived as though on death row, struggling minute by minute, to dodge the summary execution. By the fall of 1970, Zhou Enlai intervened. He went to the Foreign Languages Bureau himself and told the Red Guards flatly that they were attacking him through Jack Chen. Case closed, and we returned to Beijing and prepared to leave for Hong Kong.

My experience in the Cultural Revolution was not like any others.' I did not lie low and let the storm blow over my head. I fought back tooth and nail against the Red Guards. I nearly died several times. But it was worth it. I fought my way out and I, who, never got one word published during Mao's reign, have found a publisher in my adopted country.

This is not my only gratification. I have more freedom to move around and broaden my horizons. I went to Spain, and for the first time I swam in the Sea of my Dreams, the Mediterranean. The blue of the Mediterranean is not like the color of any other sea; its magic hue can match Heaven's own blue. While traveling and learning and absorbing different cultures, I went on an internal journey and discovered my strength and frailty. The more I know about myself, the less judgmental I am. I hope that will help me become a better person and better writer.