Autobiography with Wrong History

Mao’s Last Dancer was published in 2003 and quickly became a best seller in Australia. Li, Cunxin, the author, was an acclaimed ballet dancer before he wrote the book, which eventually was cast into a touching movie in 2009. He is a celebrity. His extraordinary experience was shared with thousands of readers. Many people, especially young readers, get the book as it is either required by the school or the book club they join, including my daughter.

After she bought the youth version book from Dymocks, I got a chance to flip through a few chapters. The author crafted a storyline starting from 1946 until 1981 when he defected. There seemed many extraordinary personal stories but my history knowledge was challenged immediately by the first paragraph of the first chapter, “Now, a year after the end of that war, the village was controlled by one of the peasant communes that had been set up throughout the countryside by China’s central communist government”.

In 1946, the author’s parents were living in the suburb of Qingdao, about 20 km from city. KMT, the ruling political party, controlled most of the central cities in Shangdong province, while communist party had some control of more rural area. The battle in Qingbao during the domestic war started in May 1949, and a month later, Li Cun, the town where they lived, was occupied by the communist army. Clearly in 1946, their village was not under the ruling of communist government.

Commune is a social system implemented during Great Leap Forward when the communist party thought it had accomplished most of the job to clean up enemies and the main job should be switched to boost economy so as to solve the dilemma of mismatch between “advanced social system” and “lagging behind economy”. It started in 1958 and faded out in 1984. The author was born into the commune system in 1961, at the place known as Li Cun Commune, but his parents did not live in the commune system until twelve years later after they got married.

The author frequently used “Madam Mao’s Beijing Dance Academy” throughout the book. According to the school website, Beijng Dance Academy was originally founded in 1954, called “Beijing Dance School”. At the beginning of Culture Revolution, it was shut down in 1966 together with all other major art schools. Six years later, Madam Mao, who was mostly known as Jiang Qing in China, helped set up a new school called Central Wu Qi Art School in 1972 in order to employ art to accelerate her propaganda. The school name changed to Central Wu Qi Art University a year later. Therefore it is not surprising that the author sometimes wrote “university” in the book when he talked about his school.

Culture Revolution ended in 1976 after Jiang Qing and her Gang of Four were arrested. In November 1978, the school was reborn with a new name, Beijing Dance Academy, which was used since then. The author graduated from Beijing Dance Academy only months after it got this new name. The new school abandoned the curriculum from the Culture Revolution and replaced with a more normal one close to western. I am not sure why the author only mentioned “Beijing Dance Academy” in the book, but not “Wu Qi Art School” with which his life was more associated. A convenient error? It is a humiliation to Beijing Dance Academy if it is called Madam Mao’s, because she shut down the previous dance school, twisted the ballet, and was in prison when the school got the new name.

In chapter thirteen, the author vividly recounted the journey to Tiananmen Square where Mao appeared on the podium of the Gate Heavenly Peace meeting millions of people. Mao famously met his Red Guards in Tiananmen Square in 1966 for eight times since August 18, 1966. It was the way Mao ignited the fire of revolution. People’s Daily well documented each event with large pictures on the front page and huge titles in red color. Some videos can also be found in youtube nowadays.

However, in the spring of 1974, both Mao and Zhou’s health were deteriorating. Deng Xiaoping was the person in charge of the day to day government before he was arrested again. It was impossible for these two old people to meet millions people like they did eight years ago. Nothing like this was mentioned in the newspaper either in the first half of 1974 when I checked People’s Daily archive on its website. It would be very odd if this happened and People’s Daily didn’t cover anything about it. According to history, Mao’s last time to Gate Heavenly Peace was in May 1971.

Gang of Four were arrested in the evening of Oct 6, 1976. The action continued until 4am next morning and remained as top secret for several days. Most people learned it when People’s Daily published it in Oct 18, 1976. However, in this book, the author said people were celebrating right in the evening of Oct 6, 1976. He made his own version of history.

These wrong facts cast a huge shadow for me to read the rest “incredible” stories. The author blurred the line between autobiography and fiction, and didn’t bother to check the history at all. As a person growing up in China during Culture Revolution, all of these extraordinary stories in the book are not unheard of. Many of these stories lack a sounding logic. But I am more care about whether those belong only to this autobiography or not. More over, I am deeply concerned that his celebrity authority will dictate a wrong version of history to the young generation who just start learning history, especially from another country with a different language.

Maybe another time....

I really enjoyed this book. I found it very inspiring.

I love reading true stories about people and this book was no exception. To hear a person’s story and be immersed in it brings a greater understanding of that person and their culture. This showed the harsh realities of Li’s life but more than anything it showed the love that surrounded him and the appreciation he had for his family and friends.

Such a phenomenal book. It was deeply moving to me. Highly recommend if you’re looking for something both interesting and inspiring! A five star book, in my opinion, leaves you feeling a broader view of the world and, consequently, of your own personal challenges and trials. This was a five star book. Side note, of course I loved the Chinese culture and history and personal narrative. Highly recommend!

Such an inspiring non-fiction book. He fights through many barriers until at last he succeeds what he wants. I really admire how he doesn't stop what his doing, and continue to try many new ways to succeed what he wants. Nothing is impossible. I think he gets today also a great thank to his inspirational teachers as well like Teacher Xiao, he taught him so many things, and indirectly taught me too!
He is somehow similar to me when he first arrives to the Ballet Dance Academy, he could not cope well with shouting but cope well with gently encouragement.
With all the inspiring fables, it gives even more inspiring message to the reader. Every interesting words go into my nerves. I feel it and I promise to make a change as well. Sometimes, I thought it would be better to start things over but Li Cunxin is right, there's only one life to live. Please judge me by my future work!

I started off unimpressed by this book; daily life in China during the Mao years is sad, yes, but familiar to anyone who has read anything set in that era. However once he was plucked away from his family and started his education proper the book really began; Li as an author found his voice around this part of the book and it was around this time that I decided to continue reading (I had been toying with the idea of giving up).

His struggles at school are familiar, but I'm not sure if Li examines hard enough what makes him so talented as a dancer. We get the impression of the capriciousness of luck and how utterly his life was changed simply because—initially—his home commune teacher recommended him. His sense of guilt is understandable and he never seemed to take his fortune for granted.

As always the look at Chinese culture is interesting; the importance of family, respect for elders and the great delusion of communism. As I mentioned in a previous review, the centrality of food to the Chinese is something I find entirely compelling.

While I thought the book ended too soon, the post script was helpful and gave a sense of finality. Li perhaps does not give us an insight into his flaws; he seems a little too perfect, but perhaps I'm just being cynical.

The writing is simple and occasionally quite moving; I became teary more than once at a few stages in the book.

Worth reading!

I was always going to love this - Chinese non-fiction and ballet writing is definitely a bit of me. I loved reading about Li Cunxin’s incredible life, it is fascinating to see where he came from and where he ended up. I’m now off to see if I can find any clips of him dancing on YouTube.

I really enjoyed this book. What I enjoyed most were the descriptions of the love that the author's family shared as he was growing up, and the lessons taught by his parents even when they lived in extreme poverty.

Think I just found my new favorite book.

It teaches you so much, and makes you feel so much. I loved learning about how macro-politics played out in people's individual lives. The first part about life in Li commune was lengthy but important. It saddened me to read about the Great Leap Forward famine and all the poverty and suffering.

My favorite part was Li's visit to the West, and his ultimate defection. He was so brutally honest with his shock, then transformation.It made me realize all the conveniences and liberty we've taken for granted.

This autobiography dedicates its narrative to absolute honesty and transparency. Li describes, in granular details, the harsh conditions of Mao China, the propaganda and its impact on him, the grueling life in Ballet Academy, and his defection to America. He does not shy away from the truth of manipulation under communist zeal, and the delirium of capitalist prosperity and freedom. I found this narrative particularly enlightening, at times thrilling.

I highly, highly recommend this book to everyone.

Beautiful book, easy to read made me feel lazy though haha

Li Cunxin was born in a remote province of China at a time when Mao was in his final years of power and the Cultural Revolution was in full flower. Li gives devastating descriptions of peasant life during that time. He, his parents, and six brothers lived in a single room concrete building without electricity or running water and a hole for a toilet. They struggled for food daily, and yet tried to keep the basic traditions of Chinese life, including honoring ancestors, celebrating the lunar new year, and family loyalty.

In school he was indoctrinated into being a dedicated Maoist and enemy of capitalist dogs. It was at this school, an hour away from the nearest railway station, that a group of officials entered and selected Li and a classmate to go to the principal's office. There he was measured and stretched. It's a sign of his later success that while other children screamed in pain he refused to make a noise, even though the stretches tore both hamstrings. After he passed several other examinations he was chosen to be a student at the Chinese Ballet in Beijing. 

Li describes his school years far away from home, where he could barely understand students from other provinces. Madame Mao, an actress before she married Mao Zedong, wanted to create a unique type of ballet that would celebrate the revolutionary struggle and reflect the glory of Maoist China. It was after the death of Mao, and the arrest and prosecution of Madame Mao as one of the "Gang of Four", that the teachers in the school were allowed to bring in tapes of true ballet done without PLA uniforms and fake rifles. The atmosphere at the school began to change. 

Li's falling in love with western ballet, his inspiration to be as great a dancer as Baryshnikov and Nureyev, and his personal drive make an inspiring story on their own. While other students would practice two or three times a day, Li pushed himself through five daily practice sessions, doing so many attempted pirouettes that he created a dent in the wooden rehearsal floor.

Eventually, under more lenient Chinese rule, he was allowed to travel to Houston to  study western dance. On a second year-long visa he fell in love with another dancer and decided to defect. There is a harrowing section describing his being kept prisoner at the Chinese embassy, an event that caused worldwide headlines, until the Chinese finally decided to release him with some pressure from former ambassador to China and Vice President George Bush.

It's one of the most unintentionally inspiring memoirs I've read. Li was coaxed by loving parents, along with a few more lenient and supportive teachers, to eventually become one of the foremost dancers of his time. His own determination to perfect his art and the stories told by mentors to help him succeed were keys to his growth. He was eventually praised by his home country as an icon of Chinese dance and was allowed to bring his parents for visits and even to visit the country with his second wife. 

It's also an inspiring book for its descriptions of family life and the making of lifelong friendships. It is book I'd recommend to anyone interested in growing in the arts or any other career.