Biographer: ex-premier Zhou wanted to reduce losses
- By Wu Jin
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E-mail China.org.cn, November 4, 2013
Jin Chongji, author of the "Biography of Zhou Enlai," has denied that Zhou was too cowardly to split with Mao Zedong during the Cultural Revolution (1967-1977).
In an interview with China News Weekly, Jin said he was asked about the matter in 1990 by a postgraduate from Peking University. He defended Zhou's personality by saying people should not take a statesman's consideration as the view of a petty bourgeoisie.
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Zhou Enlai [file photo] |
This year marks the 115 anniversary of Zhou's birth, and the stories of the first premier of People's Republic of China have regained their popularity.
Jin's "Biography of Zhou Enlai" was published in two volumes in 1990 and 1998. In it, he argued that Zhou's staunch alliance with Mao proves nothing of his cowardice but rather his resolution to reduce losses amid the chaos.
A former editor-in-chief at the Cultural Relics Publishing House, Jin was selected as the author of Zhou's biography on the approval of Deng Yingchao, Zhou's wife.
It was all because of an article he published in the People's Daily for the 70th anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution (1911) in 1981. When Zhou's former subordinate asked Deng whether Jin's writing style was appropriate for Zhou's biography, Deng nodded her head.
From then on, Jin started to write the first official publication on a national leader. "I was very afraid that Ms. Deng would disapprove, because she once said that the author of another book about Zhou was 'really good at fabricating things'," Jin recalled.
Fortunately, this never happened. Deng praised Jin for representing critical historic moments in detail and appreciated his writing style. "It is a good creative attempt," she said.
Under Deng's encouragement, Jin and his colleagues continued to write the second volume.
Liao Xinwen, Jin's colleague who helped to write the second volume said that Jin used to teach the writers to tolerate loneliness for 10 years in order to write without a single sentence of nonsense.
Jin said that he spent about 80 percent of the time reading documents and only 20 percent writing.
However, reading source materials was not enough. Writers of biographies have to visit people who were close to their subject. Interviews can last for days.
Jin also explained problems with his work, "there are usually not enough materials and sometimes you cannot find appropriate documents to support your hypothesis."
The most difficult task was to write about Zhou's weaknesses, because there is not enough evidence. According to Jin, many books about Zhou are too subjective. The author of "Zhou Enlai's late years," Li Qi, was Jin's colleague. He used to advise Li to be careful when compiling a biography, as it should be objective. However, Li, whose family suffered in the Cultural Revolution and who later immigrated to the U.S, found it hard to take on his suggestion.
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