Getting Closer to the Great Man: Unforgettable Memories of Mao Zedong's Personal Physician and Secretary

Author: Wang Hebin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: "A gun can kill people!" "We revolutionaries recognized this truth at a terrible cost, sacrificing the lives of countless revolutionary martyrs." This was the first time the author heard Mao Zedong say these words at such close range. Mao Zedong, with his rough, humorous, and playful tone, uttered a vulgar phrase that left the author shocked and bewildered. Kissinger recalled, "Later, I gradually realized that there were layers of meaning in Mao Zedong's conversations, like courtyards within courtyards in the Forbidden City, each deeper than the last." In 1976, the Tangshan earthquake claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands, and the same year also saw the passing of China's leaders Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Zhu De, bringing immense sorrow to the Chinese people.