Customer Reviews

Life and Death in Shanghai

5 star:		(67)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Such an impressive read. This lady is strong! I started reading and could not put this down. I highly recommend this book.

Growing up in the Philippines in the 1970s, we were taught in school about references to mainland China as "Communist China", "Red China", and "The Sleeping Giant", but I do not recall learning about the Cultural Revolution, Mao's red book, and the pervasive hunt and pursuit of counterrevolutionaries and capitalist roaders by the Red Guards. I do, however, recall President Marcos and his wife making slow diplomatic inroads to Mao Zedong and his formidable regime. The recognition of China by the UN, Nixon's early 1970s visit, Zhou En Lai's, then later Mao's death, and the news about the Gang of Four slowly peeled away layers of seclusion and gradually brought images of life in China to the outside world, including its nearest neighbors.

The Cultural Revolution really hit hard on people like Nien Cheng, who, having worked for Shell Corporation, having known many professional contacts who were foreigners, and having lived a comfortable and privileged life in Shanghai, was accused of being a spy and a Kuomintang loyalist, among other things. It was hard to put the book down from the start---Nien Cheng first writes about the "calm before the storm", political upheavals are about to change the life of every Chinese person, more so with people like her and her friends who are educated and well-respected and recognized in their professions. Soon, she becomes the next target of the Red Guards, her house is nearly defiled, and treasures are destroyed or taken away from her. Nien Cheng's will to survive and last whatever time she was supposed to serve for the crimes that she never did was only driven by her hope to be reunited with her daughter. Anyone would have lost hope if he or she were put in Nien Cheng's position. Nien Cheng, with an exceptional character molded by education, moral upbringing, and professional experience, maintained her mental and emotional equilibrium by mentally reciting ancient poems, thinking positive thoughts, reading and rereading Mao's books, and ingesting every bit of news that allowed her to make a coherent picture of the goings-on in the complex Maoist government. The passage of seasons foretold changes in the political situation that might bring her close to freedom, reunion with her daughter, and reparation by her wrongdoers. Despite her day-to-day travails in prison---when the next interrogation was, how long, if it was going to help her at all, if she was going to miss a meal, how they were going to coerce her to confess, how serious her sickness was---the reader is comforted by occasional fast-forward references to the future when Nien Cheng is a free person. The road from freedom to rehabilitation took almost just as long as her detention, but as the reader who sympathized with the author, I was deeply moved by the end of the book.

Nien Cheng spent two weeks on a mountain retreat outside Hangzhou before she left Shanghai for good and ultimately went to the United States. It was all for the best for her to leave her native country, yet her love of China was unquestionable. Considering what she had gone through, to move on and out of the country that brought her so much pain was the only way for her own personal redemption. I salute Nien Cheng for her eloquent personal testimony to the horrors of the Cultural Revolution and for giving her readers a look into yet another example of fortitude and character amidst adversity.

I am a Chinese living in Hong Kong and I have relatives who have endured through the Cultural Revolution. The events that they told me were in a very great extent similar to those described by Cheng. As a result I think she did not exaggerate nor making up any stories of her own. Moreover, remember that what Cheng has gone through is just very "typical" among the tens of thousands of so-called "capitalists" during that period. Her detailed and sober description of what she had been experienced is breathtaking. You could not resist to read until the last page. There is just one thing I couldn't understand: How can the people of a whole country turn mad just overnight? After reading the last page, I took a deep breath and hope that after so many years and also after the reform, China will never experience such a turmoil again.

I can't emphasize enough what a wonderful, insightful, heartfealt read this is. Previous to having read it, i knew very little of Mao and communist China. Having said that, the book is information and gives historical context in an interesting and absorbing manner. Nien's story is compelling and sincere and I voraciously read through the book within a matter of days. Afterwards, i was intriqued and felt compelled to look her up online only to sadly discover that she'd recently passed away last year in 2009. What a phenominal women and may she continue to live in our hearts through her legacy; Life and Death in Shanghai.

The story of Nien Cheng - her imprisonment and the loss of her daughter - is deeply inspiring. This is a highly recommended book that is a testament to the free human spirit in the fight against injustice.

"Life and Death in Shanghai" is a serious and sobering piece of work. It provides a personal account of the Cultural Revolution in China that is both horrifying and inspirational.

Nien Cheng had lived a privileged life in Shanghai. The widow of the former General Manager of Shell, she too had worked there after his death until they left the mainland in the mid 1960's.

Soon after, she became a target of harassment for the authorities. She was brought in for questioning, her home was ransacked, she was under observation. Then she was put into solitary detention for six and a half years. Her description of her time in prison and of her ability to stand up to the authorities again and again is amazing.

This book put a human face on the cultural war and on suffering its citizens went through at this time. She almost dies several times in the book; the reader feels as if he or she is dying along with her.

I would recommend this book to those individuals who enjoy memoirs and historical biographies. You certainly feel as if you are a personal witness to history through Cheng's eyes.

this book was wonderful I couldn't put it down I read it several
times and it just got better. She made you really feel like you
were there. I only hope this is a continuation and not her only book. Get it it's worth it.

Life and Death in Shanghai narrates the extraordinary strength of one woman in her struggle against the toll of history. The memoirs are a deeply moving and disturbing account of life under the Cultural Revolution and its tragic impact on the lives of ordinary Chinese. The author's strength is a testimony to the tenacity and nobility of the human soul.

I read this book for a class and when I first began reading, I wasn't sure I was going to understand it because I didn't know anything about Chinese culture or history, but the story captured me! Cheng was a very strong woman in a very unstable time in China. I learned so much about the cultural revolution and the difficulties that people faced during that time. It was really interesting to see the differences between that form of government and my own. And I began to realize how fortunate I am to live in a country where I can freely express my ideas. This book got me intereseted in China because it showed me the real China because it's nonfiction. This is a great introduction to the government of China and the Cultural Revolution. I am now reading more books about the Cultural Revolution, Chinese culture, and stories about immigrating to the US from China.
I usually read fiction books; so if you're a fiction reader also, please step out of your comfort zone and pick up this book! The detail Cheng uses in this book is phenomenal, I could imagine the story in the most vivid detail; just as if I had been watching it on television, or sometimes as if I was actually there. This is a book for everyone; it's not only a book about a difficult time in China, but it's about how the human spirit can survive no matter how bad life is. I love this book and Nien Cheng is my hero!

Unlike other memoirs about Twentieth Century China, Nien Cheng does an excellent job relating her own tumultuous journey to the greater chaos of Mao's Cultural Revolution. The result is a stark tragedy from which it is impossible to turn away. I teach a course on modern China, and this book will become required reading during the unit on the Cultural Revolution.