Unlike
official, dry biographies, this book gives you a more
complex,unflattering insight into the last Perfect Revolutionary – Zhou
Enlai.
Perfect
because Zhou Enlai has portrayed a selfless image, one that of Zhuge
Liang, one who worked himself to death for a cause. What I remembered
most from the previous biography – 周恩来画传, was how the citizens of
Beijing - 十里送总理 when Zhou Enlai passed away. And the other was while
many of the old guards changed wives when they got rich and powerful,
Zhou Enlai had this to say even though he had no children of his own:”
全国的孩子都是我的孩子”
Hence perhaps the best evidence of his dedication to the cause can be seen by how he proposed to his wife:
“
I had become a firm beliver in Marxism, and thus my need was for a
lifelong companion who would share this devotion with me, a
comrade-in-arms who would bear the hard times with me and survive to see
another day. So I initiated the talk with Zhang Ruoming to clarify my
stand and began to exchange letters with Deng Yingchao whom I soon
decided to issue a proposal of marriage.”
In
his proposal to Deng Yingchao, it was a postcard which featured a
portrait of Robespierre and wrote” Some day we too will meet together to
confront the guillotine arm-in arm. “
What kind of proposal is this?!! Proposing your loved one to die with you.
To
make it worse, when Yingchao arrived in Guangzhou to meet Zhou Enlai
after she returned from France, Zhou didn't pick her up from the boat.
Instead, when she finally arrived and entered a meeting that he was
conducting, he only smiled and went back to the intense discussion.
After the meeting ended, he got up and hustled out without bothering
greeting his wife to be. That was workaholic Zhou Enlai at a young age.
The less than perfect Zhou Enlai:
The
big takeway from this book is it paints a less than perfect picture of
Zhou Enlai and the author Gao Wenqian attempts to psychoanalyze Zhou
Enlai.
As
Deng Xiaoping noted, “ Without the premier the Cultural Revolution
would have been much worse. And without the premier, the Cultural
Revolution wouldn't have dragged on for such a long time”
Perhaps,
Zhou Enlai was trying to avoid a larger disaster of a civil war but his
actions were really uncomprehensible to those of us who hold him in high
regard.
During
a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Politburo at Cherish
Benevolence hall on Feburary 11, 1967. The old marshals used this
occasion to attack the leftists. Yet Zhou Enlai did not speak up with
courage like the old marshals even though he shared many of the same
feelings as did the old marshals. To make things worse, Mao ordered Zhou
to chair the struggle meetings against Tan Zhenlin and Marshals Chen Yi
and Xu Xiangqian – people who dared to stand up and criticise. Peope
whom Zhou had also enjoyed good relationships with over the years.
Perhaps,
the premier believed that as long as he remained on the inside circle
of power, his presence will make a difference. Someone had to hold the
fort and maintain a semblance of order while turbulence spread
throughout the country. However, it is true that guilt tore away at
Zhou as he didn't defend his veteran brothers at arms. Zhou's medical
team advised him not to attend He Long's funeral ceremony. He went. In
his weakened state, Zhou made a sincere deep bow to He Long's ashes, 3
more to He Long's protrait, and 3 more bows to He Long's family.
Yet
some do think that Zou Enlai was truly submissive to Mao. For example,
Zhou actually wrote a letter to Chen Yi, Tan Zhenlin ( those that spoke
up ) in late April 1967 when Mao again shifted gears and eased up a bit
on the old guard of the Party. In the letter, Zhou warned them against
any errant behaviour that might set back the incremental improvement in
political climate, telling them not to carry out acts of revenge.
As
to why Zhou was willing to be so submissive to Mao, Gao in his
psychoanalyse of Zhou said that Zhou had this deep seated psychological
need to be a leader's number two due to Zhou's childhood of 2 mothers(
one biological and one adoptive). Zhou lacked an active father and he
was throughly trained in the Confucian arts of yielding, tolerance and
compromise.
Hence,
during the Cultural Revolution, Zhou was trying to follow his personal
mantra of “ ageing gracefully” and avoiding conflict with Mao, while his
personal conscience bespeech him to do whatever to save the country.
But
what did he get out of this devotion or loyalty to Mao? When Zhou was
diagnosed with bladder cancer, his medical team believed that he had 80
per cent chance of recovery. In line with the rules, that health care
for government offcials above the of the average Politburo member had to
be approved by Mao, Mao denied proper treatment for Zhou - if this was
true, Mao may have determined the death of Zhou.
Yet,
it was too at this point of terminal illness, that one can witness that
Zhou Enlai was no ordinary man. His physical endurance mimicked his enormous psychological tolerance. Pain would sweep over his body, drive
him in and out of consciousness. His body was bath in a cold sweat. Yet
while he was awake, he wouldn't make the slightest sound. Only during
his sleep, could one detect a slight moan.
Zhou and Deng:
According
to Gao, Mao wanted to destroy Zhou after Lin Biao's affair but he
needed someone to run the country. So came Deng Xiaoping. Historians
perpetutate the misconception that Deng Xiaoping was Zhou's protege, but
he is Mao.
However,
Zhou was worried the aggressiveness that Deng pursued reform will hurt
in the end. Zhou completely agreed with the need to repair the damage,
but he opposed the haste the Deng was doing. If Deng fell, the entire
impetus of economic and political reform will collapse with him.
When
Mao finally made a decision to act on Deng, Mao told Deng “ The wind
always knock down the tallest tree.” Deng made a beeline to see Zhou in
the hospital. Zhou just lay there, stared at Deng, and finally said”
Why can't you be a little tolerant?” and turned his face with a bitter
look of sadness to the wall.
And it’s true. Deng Xiao Ping was purged a second time and Hua Guo Feng became Mao’s designated successor.
Then
for first time, Zhou took the offensive against Mao. Zhou recommended
that Deng replace him as premier, let word out with external visitors
from Romania about Deng has taken over most of his job. His medical
staff opposed but Zhou still went ahead with the Romania visit to take
the opportunity to sell Deng.
Zhou
before he was wheeled into the operating room, put on a show to get the
message to Mao that time has stopped for his usual game of Ping Pong
and confirm Deng once and for all.
Just
before Zhou was wheeled into the operating room, he called for Xiaoping
and shouted for all to hear:” Comrade Xiaoping, your work over the
years has shown that you are truly tougher than I am.”
According
to a memoir by Deng Rong, Deng Xiaoping's daughter, when Zhou asked
Deng whether he will ever “ change his attitude”. Deng's response was an
“ unequivocal never”. Zhou's answer was also an uneqivocal - “I am
glad”.
Final Words:
There
is not doubt that Zhou was a self sacrificial man and Zhou is commonly
acknowledged as a balance to Mao’s extremism both during the Great Leap
Forward and Cultural Revolution. But Gao paints an ultimately damning
portrait of a “YES” man.
What
sort of machinations and compromises were necessary to linger in power
while those around him were being swept away? What about allowing his
long time comrade Liu Shaoqi to die of untreated pneumonia lying on the
floor of an unheated jail cell?
Perhaps in the end, the biggest question that remains is this:
What
would have happened if Zhou had stood up to Mao or at least advised him
differently? Would Mao have lasted? Or would Zhou have lasted to curb’s
Mao excess?
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