Jung Chang (Traditional Chinese: 張戎, Simplified Chinese: 张戎, Wade-Giles: Chang Jung, Pinyin: Zhāng Róng; born March 25, 1952) is a Chinese-born British writer, best known for her family autobiography Wild Swans, selling over 10 million copies worldwide, but banned in mainland China. Traditional Chinese characters are one of two standard sets of printed Chinese characters. ... Simplified Chinese characters (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ; also Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ) refer to one of two standard Chinese character sets of printed contemporary Chinese written language, officially simplified by the government of the Peoples Republic of China in an attempt to promote literacy. ... Wade-Giles, sometimes abbreviated Wade, is a Romanization (phonetic notation and transliteration) system for the Chinese language based on Mandarin. ... It has been suggested that Pinyin method be merged into this article or section. ... March 25 is the 84th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (85th in leap years). ... 1952 (MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Cover of An autobiography, from the Greek auton, self, bios, life and graphein, write, is a biography written by the subject or composed conjointly with a collaborative writer (styled as told to or with). The term dates from the late eighteenth century, but the form is much older. ... Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China is an autobiographical family history by Chinese writer Jung Chang. ... Censorship in the Peoples Republic of China refers to the government of the Peoples Republic of Chinas policy of controlling the publishing, dissemination, and viewing of certain information. ... The highlighted area in the map is what is commonly known as mainland China. Mainland China (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: is a geopolitical term which is usually synonymous with the area currently administered by the Peoples Republic of China (PRC); however, it excludes the two special administrative regions...

Her 832-page biography of Mao Zedong, Mao: The Unknown Story, written with her husband, the British Soviet historian Jon Halliday, was published in June 2005 and is a highly critical description of Mao Zedong's life and work. Mao redirects here. ... Jon Halliday is a historian of Russia who was a former Senior Visiting Research Fellow at Kings College, University of London. ...

Jung Chang

This image was taken from http://www. ...

Life in China

Chang was born March 25, 1952 in Yibin, Sichuan Province, China. Her parents were both Communist Party of China officials. March 25 is the 84th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (85th in leap years). ... 1952 (MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Yibin (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: YíbÄ«n; Wade-Giles: I-pin) is a prefecture-level city in south central China, in southern Sichuan Province, located at the junction of the Min and Yangtze Rivers. ... Sichuan (Chinese: 四川; pinyin: Sìchuān; Wade-Giles: Ssu-ch`uan; non-standard transliteration: Szechwan) is a province in central-western China with its capital at Chengdu. ... The Communist Party of China (CPC) (official name, though almost universally known in English as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)) (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: Zhōngguó GòngchÇŽndÇŽng) is the ruling political party of the Peoples Republic of China, a position guaranteed by the countrys...

According Chang's book Wild Swan, her father was greatly interested in literature. She quickly developed a love of reading and writing, composing poetry as a child. As Party cadres, life was relatively good for her family at first; her parents worked hard, and her father became successful at a regional level. His formal ranking was as a "level 10 official", meaning that he was one of 20,000 or so most important cadres in the country. The Communist Party provided her family with a dwelling in a guarded, walled compound, a maid and chauffeur, as well as a wet-nurse and nanny for the children.

According Chang's book Wild Swan, Her given name, Er-hong (二鸿 "Second Swan"), sounded like the Chinese word for "faded red". As communists were "deep red", the young Er-hong, at the age of 12, asked her father to give her a new name. She wanted a name with "a military ring to it." He suggested "Jung", which means "martial affairs."

The Cultural Revolution

According Chang's book Wild Swan, like many of her peers, Chang chose to become a Red Guard at the age of 14, during the early years of the Cultural Revolution. In Wild Swans she said she was "keen to do so", "thrilled by my red armband"¹. But Chang also described how she refused to participate in the attacks on her teachers and other Chinese, and she left after a short period as she found the Guards too violent. In the Peoples Republic of China, the Red Guards (Chinese: 紅衛兵; Hanyu Pinyin: Hóng Wèi BÄ«ng) were civilians who were the frontline implementers of the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1960s-1970s). ... The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ; literally Proletarian Cultural Great Revolution; often abbreviated to 文化大革命 wénhuà dà gémìng, literally Great Cultural Revolution, or even simpler, to 文革 wéngé, Cultural Revolution) in the Peoples Republic of China was a struggle for power within the...

According Chang's book Wild Swan, The failures of the Great Leap Forward had led her parents to oppose Mao Zedong's policies, though not him by name. During the Cultural Revolution, they were targeted as most high-ranking officials were. When Chang's father criticised Mao by name, Chang writes in Wild Swans that this exposed them to retaliation from Mao Zedong's supporters. Both were publicly humiliated — ink was poured over their heads, they were forced to wear placards round their necks, kneel in gravel and to stand outside in the rain — followed by imprisonment, her father's treatment leading to lasting physical and mental illness. Their careers were destroyed, and her family was forced to leave their home. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Mao redirects here. ... Humiliation is literally the act of being made humble, or reduced in standing or prestige. ... A prison is a place in which people are confined and deprived of a range of liberties. ... A mental illness as defined in psychiatry and other mental health professions, is abnormal mental condition or disorder expressing symptoms that cause significant distress and/or dysfunction. ...

According Chang's book Wild Swan, Before her parents' denunciation and imprisonment, Chang had unquestionably supported Mao^{[citation needed]} like most Chinese. But by the time of his death, her respect for him had been destroyed. She wrote that when she heard he had died, she had to bury her head in the shoulder of another student to pretend she was grieving. Denunciation refers to the announcement of a treatys termination. ...

The Chinese seemed to be mourning Mao in a heartfelt fashion. But I wondered how many of their tears were genuine. People had practiced acting to such a degree that they confused it with their true feelings. Weeping for Mao was perhaps just another programmed act in their programmed lives.²

Studying English

According Chang's book Wild Swan, Chang was unable to go to university once the Cultural Revolution had started due to the disruption of the university system by the Red Guards. Instead, she spent several years as a barefoot doctor (a part-time peasant doctor), a steelworker and an electrician, though she received no formal training because of Mao's policy, which did not require formal instruction as a prerequisite for such work.

The universities were eventually re-opened and she gained a place at Sichuan University to study English, later becoming an assistant lecturer there. After Mao's death, she passed an exam which allowed her to study in the West, and her application to leave China was approved once her father was politically rehabilitated. Sichuan University is a major Chinese university, located in the city of Chengdu, in the Sichuan province of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Political rehabilitation is the process by which a member of a political organization or government who has fallen into disgrace is restored to public life. ...

Life in Britain

Academic background

Chang left China in 1978 to study in Britain on a government scholarship, staying first in Soho, London. She later moved to Yorkshire, studying linguistics at the University of York with a scholarship from the university itself, living in Derwent College. She received her Ph.D. in linguistics from York in 1982, becoming the first person from the People's Republic of China to be awarded a Ph.D. from a British university. 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... Soho is an area of central Londons West End, in the borough of the City of Westminster. ... Look up Yorkshire in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Linguistics is the scientific study of language. ... The University of York is a campus university in York, England. ... Derwent College, York view from behind Derwent College toward Heslington Hall Derwent College is a college of the University of York, the very first to be opened following the universitys inception. ... Doctor of Philosophy (from Greek , meaning Teacher of Philosophy), typically abbreviated Ph. ...

She has also been awarded honorary doctorates from the University of Buckingham, the University of York, the University of Warwick, and the Open University. She lectured for some time at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, before retiring in the 1990s to concentrate on her writing. The University of Buckingham is the UKs first and only independent university. ... The University of Warwick coat of arms The University of Warwick in Coventry is one of the leading universities in the United Kingdom. ... The Open University (OU) is the UKs open learning university. ... The School of Oriental and African Studies (commonly abbreviated to SOAS) is a College of the University of London. ...

New experiences

In 2003, Jung Chang wrote a new foreword to Wild Swans, describing her early life in Britain and explaining why she wrote the book. Having lived in China during the 1960s and 1970s, she found Britain exciting. After the initial culture-shock, she soon grew to love the country, especially its diverse range of culture, literature and arts. She found even colourful window-boxes worth writing home about - Hyde Park and the Kew Gardens were inspiring. She took every opportunity to watch Shakespeare's plays in both London and York. However she still has a special place for China in her heart, saying in an interview with HarperCollins, "I feel perhaps my heart is still in China". [1] The Serpentine, viewed from the eastern end Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London and one of the Royal Parks of London. ... Royal Botanic Gardens redirects here. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Collins was a Scottish printing company founded by a Presbyterian schoolmaster, William Collins, in Glasgow in 1819, in partnership with Charles Chalmers, the younger brother of Thomas Chalmers, minister of Tron Church, Glasgow. ...

Chang lives in West London with her husband, the British historian Jon Halliday, who specializes in Soviet history. She regularly visits mainland China to see her family and friends there, with permission from the Chinese authorities, despite carrying out research on her biography of Mao there. Satellite image of the inner part of West London West London is the area of Greater London to the west of the central area. ... Jon Halliday is a historian of Russia who was a former Senior Visiting Research Fellow at Kings College, University of London. ... Motto: Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! (Transliterated: Proletarii vsekh stran, soedinyaytes!) Translation: Workers of the world, unite!) Anthem: The Internationale (1922-1944) Hymn of the Soviet Union (1944-1991) Capital Moscow Language(s) Russian (the de facto official language), 14 other official languages Government Socialist republic Leaders  - 1922-1924 Vladimir Lenin  - 1924-1953 Joseph Stalin...

Celebrity

The publication of Jung Chang's first book Wild Swans made her a celebrity. Chang's unique style, using a personal description of the life of three generations of Chinese women to highlight the many changes that the country went through, proved to be highly successful. Large numbers of sales were generated, and the book's popularity led to it being sold around the world and translated into several languages.

Chang became a popular figure for talks about Communist China, and she has travelled across Britain, Europe, America, as well as the rest of the world. She returned to the University of York on June 14, 2005 to address the university's debating union. Hundreds of students turned out to meet her, including dozens of Chinese exchange students. The BBC invited her onto the panel of Question Time for a first-ever broadcast from Shanghai on 10 March 2005 , but she was unable to attend when she broke her leg a few days beforehand. June 14 is the 165th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (166th in leap years), with 200 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is one of the largest broadcasting corporations in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the UK alone and with a budget of more than £4 billion. ... Question Time is a topical debate television programme in the United Kingdom, based on Any Questions?. It is currently shown on BBC One at 22:35 on Thursdays, and typically features politicians from the three major political parties and other public figures who answer questions put to them by the... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... March 10 is the 69th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (70th in leap years). ...

Publications

Wild Swans

Wild Swans, Chang's first international bestseller

Main article: Wild Swans

The international bestseller was a biography of three generations of Chinese women in 20th century China — her grandmother, mother, and herself. Chang paints a vivid portrait of the political and military turmoil of China in this period, from the marriage of her grandmother to a warlord, to her mother's experience of Japanese-occupied Jinzhou during the Second Sino-Japanese War, and her own experience of the effects of Mao's policies of the 1950s and 1960s. However, from her counterparts and former friends from Sichuan, China, many details in the story was not true or only partially true. Some of the text and story were stolen from other people's real story. Jung add all these stories together into her owe experience in order to write a more attractive book. The book also sugared up her parents behavior during the cultural revolution, making them as tragic heros which in fact was not that good at all. Wild Swans was translated into 30 languages and sold 10 million copies, receiving praise from authors such as J. G. Ballard. It is banned in mainland China, though two pirated versions are available, as are translations in Hong Kong and Taiwan. This image was taken from http://www. ... Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China is an autobiographical family history by Chinese writer Jung Chang. ... Politics is the process by which groups make decisions. ... Warlord is a term that refers to one who has de facto military control of a subnational area, due to armed forces which are personally obedient to — somewhat circularly — that warlord. ... Jinzhou (Simplified Chinese: 锦州; Traditional Chinese: 錦州; Pinyin: Jǐnzhōu), is a prefecture-level city of Liaoning province in Northeast China. ... Combatants Republic of China Empire of Japan Commanders Chiang Kai-shek, Chen Cheng, Yan Xishan, Feng Yuxiang, Li Zongren, Xue Yue, Mao Zedong. ... J.G. Ballard James Graham Ballard (born November 15, 1930 in Shanghai) is a British writer. ... This article is about nautical piracy. ...

Mao: The Unknown Story

Main article: Mao: The Unknown Story

Mao: The Unknown Story, Chang's biography of Mao

Chang's latest work, a biography of Mao, was co-authored by her husband Jon Halliday and is highly critical of Mao's rule. Halliday had praised Maoism in Japanese Imperialism Today, which he co-authored with Gavan McCormack in 1973, but his view changed over time like that of his wife. This image was taken from http://www. ... Jon Halliday is a historian of Russia who was a former Senior Visiting Research Fellow at Kings College, University of London. ... Gavan McCormack is a British-trained East Asian specialist who is currently visiting professor of Social Science at the International Christain University, Tokyo. ...

Amongst their criticism of Mao, Chang and Halliday argue that despite being born into a peasant family, he had little concern for the welfare of the Chinese peasantry. They hold Mao responsible for the famine resulting from the Great Leap Forward and claim that he exacerbated the famine by allowing the export of grain to continue even when it became clear that China did not have sufficient grain to feed its population. They also claim that Mao had many political opponents arrested and murdered, including some of his personal friends, and argue that he was a more tyrannical leader than had previously been thought. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

While reviews in Western popular media were generally positive, academic opinion on the book was divided. Perry Link, Professor of East Asian Studies at Princeton University, wrote a laudatory review in The Times Literary Supplement. [2] Michael Yahuda, Professor Emeritus of international relations at the London School of Economics, also expressed his support in The Guardian, calling it a "magnificent book" and "a stupendous work". [3] Professor R. J. Rummel of the University of Hawaii wrote on his weblog that he was updating his own democide figures due to Chang and Halliday's estimates over the number of deaths that can be attributed to Mao's rule of China.^[1] Perry Link is a Sinologist at Princeton University, specializing in modern Chinese literature. ... Princeton University is a coeducational private university located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States of America. ... A brothel, also known as a bordello or whorehouse, is an establishment specifically dedicated to prostitution. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... This article is about the University of Hawaii system. ... Democide is a term created by political scientist R.J. Rummel in order to create a broader concept than the legal definition of genocide. ...

On the other hand Philip Short (author of Mao: A Life) argued that Chang and Halliday had reduced Mao from a complex historical character to a one-dimensional "cardboard cutout of Satan" and that Chang was guilty of "writing history to fit [her] views". Andrew Nathan, Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science at Columbia University, in a lengthy review in the London Review of Books^[2] raised questions including the difficulty in verifying the sources used and problems with their quality. However, he did also express interest in the book's thorough use of memoirs published since Mao's death, suggesting that they and other similar sources may prove useful references in the future. Jonathan Spence's review (Professor of history at Yale University) in the New York Review of Books said that focusing on Mao's vileness had undermined "much of the power their story might have had." [4] Philip Short (born 1945, Bristol) is a journalist and author. ... Columbia University is a private research university whose main campus lies in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of the Borough of Manhattan in New York City. ... The London Review of Books (or LRB) is a twice-monthly British literary magazine. ... Jonathan D. Spence (August 11, 1936– ) is a British-born historian, specialising in Chinese history. ... Yale redirects here. ... The New York Review of Books (or NYRB) is a biweekly magazine on literature, culture, and current affairs published in New York which takes as its point of departure that the discussion of important books is itself an indispensable literary activity. ...

Chang responded to the criticism, pointing out that she and her husband were shocked at what they discovered during the 10 years they spent researching the book. Halliday is an historian specializing in the Soviet Union, and he said that he was greatly helped by accessing Russian archives on China that were inaccessible until recently. Chang travelled several times to China during the course of her research, interviewing many of those who were close to Mao, as well as alleged eyewitnesses to events such as the crossing of Luding Bridge. now. ...

List of works

• Jung Chang and Jon Halliday, Madame Sun Yat-Sen: Soong Ching-Ling (London, 1986); Penguin, ISBN 0-14-008455-X
• Jung Chang, Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China (London, 1992); 2004 Harper Perennial ed. ISBN 0-00-717615-5
• Jung Chang and Jon Halliday, Mao: The Unknown Story (London, 2005); Jonathan Cape, ISBN 0-679-42271-4

Also Sun Yat-sen (Chinese: ; November 12, 1866 – March 12, 1925) was a Chinese revolutionary and political leader often referred to as the “father of modern China”. Sun played an instrumental role in the eventual overthrow of the Qing Dynasty in 1911. ... Soong Ching-ling, or Madame Sun Yat-sen, the one who loved China Soong Ching-ling (Simplified Chinese: 宋庆龄; Traditional Chinese: 宋慶齡; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Sung Ching-ling) (January 27, 1893 - May 29, 1981) was one of the Soong sisters—three sisters whose husbands were amongst Chinas most... Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China is an autobiographical family history by Chinese writer Jung Chang. ...

• Another province: new Chinese writing from London (In Chinese Tianwai you tian: London Huaren xin xiezuo xuan). Selected by Jung Chang, Lynn Pan and Henry Zhao, edited by Jessie Lim and Li Yan, assisted by Jenny Putin. London: Lambeth Chinese Community Association, 1994. ISBN 0-9522973-0-2 (pbk).

Notes

1: Jung Chang, Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China (London, 2004), p. 378.

2: Wild Swans, p. 633.

References

1. ^ Getting My Reestimate Of Mao's Democide Out by R. J. Rummel, 29th November, 2005
2. ^ Jade and Plastic by Andrew Nathan, London Review of Books, 17th November, 2005

• Lisa Allardice: "This book will shake the world", The Guardian 26th May 2005; a profile of Chang
• "History: Mao by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday" by Simon Sebag Montefiore, The Times, 29th May, 2005
• "The long march to evil", by Roy Hattersley, The Observer, 5th June, 2005
• "Too much hate, too little understanding" by Frank McLynn, The Independent on Sunday 5th June 2005
• "Mao: The end of the affair" by James Heartfield, Spiked Online, 4th July, 2005
• Dark tales of Mao the merciless by Delia Davin, (The Times Higher Education Supplement, 12 August 2005
• Throwing the book at Mao by Hamish McDonald, The Age, 8 October 2005

The Guardian is a British newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. ... Simon Sebag Montefiore (1965- ) is a British academic of jewish origin specializing in Russian History. ... The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom since 1785, and under its current name since 1788. ... The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom since 1785, and under its current name since 1788. ... The Age is a broadsheet daily newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. ...

See also

• List of British Chinese people