Unprecedented Era: Notes from a Veteran People's Daily Journalist

Author: Ji Xichen
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2001-04-01
Features: As a reporter for the People's Daily, the author had the opportunity to witness many major historical events in an unprecedented era. After the purge of the "Gang of Four," he interviewed many key figures, including Ye Jianying, Tan Zhenlin, Xu Xiangqian, Nie Rongzheng, and Hu Guofeng. Additionally, due to his participation in covering the trials of the two cases, he had access to a vast amount of documents and archives. After ten years of preparation from his reporting experiences, it took him over a decade to write this comprehensive (recorded) work detailing the Cultural Revolution. The book begins with the (accusation) and critique of General Luo Ruiqing, the Chief of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army, in 1965, and follows the historical events in sequence, culminating in the trials of the Lin Biao and the "Gang of Four" counter-revolutionary groups. It provides a panoramic account of the Cultural Revolution from its inception to its conclusion, examining it from multiple perspectives. The author's narrative of the major events during the Cultural Revolution combines both a broad overview and detailed descriptions, especially preserving many authentic scenes and real-life figures from his interviews, including numerous rare and valuable historical materials.