Xu Zhucheng's Memoirs

Author: Xu Zhucheng
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1998-01-01
Features: The author was born in the late years of the late Qing Dynasty. When he started working, he coincided with the late period of the Beiyang Warlord government—the reign of Zhang Zuolin as Grand Marshal. He witnessed the rise of the Kuomintang and its eventual collapse on the mainland. He also spent decades of extraordinary years in New China, enduring long periods of storms and, only to finally see the clouds part and the sun reappear after the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the CCP. He then spent nearly a decade of hopeful and joyful times. During this long and winding six decades, the author personally established newspapers five times and also（）them five times. The experiences he went through may only be understood by him alone, from which he learned lessons and gained insights. As for the historical events and figures he encountered, they are too numerous to count. To be responsible for this period of history, the author jokingly said that while his memory had not yet completely faded, he should seize the time to recall and write them down as truthfully as possible, making them public, which is how this memoir came into being. This book is the "pen-down" work of the famous journalist Xu Zhucheng, which began in March 1985 and took two years to complete. With a simple and fluent style, it recalls the author's eighty-year rich and turbulent life, focusing on his career as a journalist and the political activities he participated in, covering many important historical events and figures in modern Chinese history. The author once said: "Master Sima had a famous saying: 'Nothing is too private to be spoken to others.' I add a line: 'With a face that can stand the test of right and wrong, I can confidently say.' I used this couplet to describe myself. Therefore, when writing his memoirs, he didn’t need to ponder, nor did he feel any external shame or internal remorse, and could write freely without hiding anything. Of course, as he nears the end of his days, some trivial details may have been forgotten due to memory lapses." Xu Zhucheng served as a member of the , , , and National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (NPC), a representative at the National People's Congress (NPC), and a member of the Central Committee of the China Democratic League. He held an important position in the history of Chinese journalism. In 1957, he was wrongfully labeled a rightist and remained silent for over two decades. In his later years, he returned to public life, traveled, and wrote, leaving behind more than four million words of specialized works and collections.