Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Man on Mao's Right: From Harvard Yard to Tiananmen Square, My Life Inside China's Foreign Ministry
    The Man on Mao's Right: From Harvard Yard to Tiananmen Square, My Life Inside China's Foreign Ministry
    The Man on Mao's Right: From Harvard Yard to Tiananmen Square, My Life Inside China's Foreign Ministry
    Audiobook14 hours

    The Man on Mao's Right: From Harvard Yard to Tiananmen Square, My Life Inside China's Foreign Ministry

    Written by Ji Chaozhu

    Narrated by Norman Dietz

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    No other narrative from within the corridors of power has offered as frank and intimate an account of the making of the modern Chinese nation as Ji Chaozhu's The Man on Mao's Right. Having served Chairman Mao Zedong and the Communist leadership for two decades, and having become a key figure in China's foreign policy, Ji now provides an honest, detailed account of the personalities and events that shaped today's People's Republic.

    The youngest son of a prosperous government official, nine-year-old Ji and his family fled Japanese invaders in the late 1930s, escaping to America. Warmly received by his new country, Ji returned its embrace as he came of age in New York's East Village and then attended Harvard University. But in 1950, after years of enjoying a life of relative ease while his countrymen suffered through war and civil strife, Ji felt driven by patriotism to volunteer to serve China in its conflict with his adoptive country in the Korean War.

    Ji's mastery of the English language and American culture launched his improbable career, eventually winning him the role of English interpreter for China's two top leaders: Premier Zhou Enlai and Party Chairman Mao Zedong. With a unique blend of Chinese insight and American candor, Ji paints insightful portraits of the architects of modern China: the urbane, practical, and avuncular Zhou, the conscience of the People's Republic; and the messianic, charismatic Mao, student of China's ancient past-his country's stern father figure.

    Ji is an eyewitness to modern Chinese history, including the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, the Nixon summit, and numerous momentous events in Tiananmen Square. As he became caught up in political squabbles among radical factions, Ji's past and charges against him of "incorrect" thinking subjected him to scrutiny and suspicion. He was repeatedly sent to a collective farm to be "reeducated" by the peasants.

    After the Mao years, Ji moved on to hold top diplomatic posts in the United States and the United Kingdom and then served as under-secretary-general of the United Nations. Today, he says, "The Chinese know America better than the Americans know China. The risk is that we misperceive each other." This highly accessible insider's chronicle of a struggling people within a developing powerhouse nation is also Ji Chaozhu's dramatic personal story, certain to fascinate and enlighten Western audiences.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateAug 25, 2008
    ISBN9781400178230
    The Man on Mao's Right: From Harvard Yard to Tiananmen Square, My Life Inside China's Foreign Ministry

    Related to The Man on Mao's Right

    Related audiobooks

    Biography & Memoir For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Voices Of CHINA

      Oct 29, 2020

      The Voices Of CHINA
      6 min read

    • Article

      Bird’s Words

      Nov 27, 2023

      I am within 10,000 words of the end of the book I have spent years writing. I have been asked by my agent, who now has to sell it, what in my opinion is the theme, the purpose, the lesson of my book – that is, if it has a lesson and is not just a pie

      3 min read

    • Article

      Hidden Histories

      Mar 16, 2023

      Kavita Puri is a journalist and broadcaster for BBC Radio 4 whose history series include Three Pounds in My Pocket. She is also the author of Partition Voices: Untold British Stories (Bloomsbury, 2019) I SPEND A LOT OF MY TIME THINKING ABOUT historic

      2 min read

    • Article

      Letters

      Oct 29, 2020

      I read with interest about Captain Francis Grose and his contribution to the English language (My History Hero, November). However, Captain Grose also had a hand in creating one of Scotland’s most famous literary figures, Tam O’Shanter by Robert Burn

      6 min read

    • Article

      Misunderstanding Asia

      Nov 8, 2017

      Misunderstanding Asia
      3 min read

    • Article

      2022 Books Of The Year

      Nov 24, 2022

      2022 Books Of The Year
      14 min read

    • Article

      Trapped Between Two Worlds: The Life of John Morris

      Apr 4, 2022

      There is a (now lost) picture of me as an infant in 1952 on my grandfather’s knee, when he was about to turn 90. Even as a teenager, I was thinking, wow, the life this guy lived. The things he lived through and witnessed, and the way his day-to-day l

      11 min read

    • Article

      Red Or Dead

      Jan 27, 2023

      Red Or Dead
      15 min read

    • Article

      Stuck In The Middle

      Oct 27, 2022

      Stuck In The Middle
      2 min read

    • Article

      Xi’s The One

      Jun 3, 2022

      Xi’s The One
      3 min read

    • Article

      “In China, The Fear Of Chaos And The Desire For Order Come First”

      Jul 8, 2021

      MICHAEL WOOD ON… UNDERSTANDING THE “CHINESE WAY” This summer, China is on everyone’s radar. News reports and water-cooler conversations cover Hong Kong, AI, Taiwan and the human rights situation in Xinjiang. President Biden visited Europe and Britain

      2 min read

    • Article

      100 Years Of Time

      Feb 18, 2023

      100 Years Of Time
      3 min read

    • Article

      Spotlight Anthony Joseph

      Apr 17, 2019

      Spotlight Anthony Joseph
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Path Forward

      May 11, 2023

      The Path Forward
      5 min read

    • Article

      Experience Of A Lifetime

      Aug 12, 2021

      There is a famous saying: Seeing is believing. The underlying implication of this statement is that nothing can substitute a firsthand experience. This chapter of my life via a five-day trip in Jiangxi Province afforded me the once-in-a-lifetime chan

      2 min read

    • Article

      100 Years Of Time

      Feb 17, 2023

      100 Years Of Time
      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Man on Mao's Right

    4.5/5

    6 ratings3 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      The man on Mao's right. From Harvard Yard to Tiananmen Square, my life inside China's Foreign Ministry by the Chinese author Ji Chaozhu 冀朝铸 has remarkably few readers on LibraryThing; only about 30 to date, nearly eight years since its publication in 2008.That was the year of the Beijing Olympic Games, a time presumably many people would be interested to pick up a book about China. The title of the book refers to the author, shown on the cover standing to Mao's right, a somewhat enigmatic title, of course. The subtitle is long and complicated From Harvard Yard to Tiananmen Square, my life inside China's Foreign MinistryMr Ji Chaozhu is of course a rather insignificant figure, not a politician but an interpreter wo served Chinese political leaders for several decades. However, Mr Ji was mostly employed and enjoyed the protection of Prime Minister Zhou Enlai while he only occasionally interpreted for the Great Helmsman, Mao Zedong. Nonetheless, his position gave him a unique perspective, as he could not only observe the unfolding of Chinese contemporary history, but see it from the rostrum of the Meridian Gate, right next to the men who made history.Although the author largely received protection from China's Prime Minister, he did not escape hardship and suffered greatly during the Cultural Revolution, as he was sent to the countryside for reform through labour with the peasants.The man on Mao's right is very well-written, and mainly a factual account of Chinese modern history. It describes many of the well-known episodes with great detail, and probably more accuracy than many western authors who tend to exaggerate and speculate more. Mr Ji Chaozhu is never really critical or hostile to the Chinese leadership, but neither tries to cover things up.Before publication by Random House, The man on Mao's right was published in two earlier, presumably different editions in China. These editions sold very well, although it is not explained in which was those Chinese editions were (if so) different from the current edition.For readers with an interest in Chinese contemporary history, particularly the period from 1949 till 1980, The man on Mao's right. From Harvard Yard to Tiananmen Square, my life inside China's Foreign Ministry is warmly recommended. The subtitle of the book quite incorrectly suggests that the book would describe Chinese history up till 1989, whereas there is just a short coda describing the authors career as an ambassador after 1982.
    • 4/5
      Interesting memoirs of a man who survived many years of the turmoils of being in China's leadership. Good stories and lessons throughout. "Survival diplomacy", as he says, is required in these circumstances.
    • 3/5
      It was very interesting to read about so many facets of China's history and political strife from an insider such as Ji Chaozhu.