''Life and Death in Shanghai'' () is an autobiographical

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autob ...

published in November 1987 by Chinese author Yao Nien-Yuan under the pen name

Nien Cheng Nien Cheng or Zheng Nian (January 28, 1915 – November 2, 2009) was the pen name of Yao Nien-Yuan (). She was a Chinese people, Chinese author known for recounting her experiences during the Cultural Revolution in her memoir ''Life and Deat ...

. Written while in exile in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, it tells the story of Cheng's arrest during the early days of the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

, her more than six years' of confinement, persecution, efforts to leave China, and life in exile.

Background

Cheng was named "an enemy of the state" and arrested in late 1966 after the Red Guards looted her home. During her confinement, she was pressured to make a false confession that she was a spy for "the imperialists" because for many years after her husband's death she had continued to work as a senior partner for

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

. Cheng refused and was thus tortured. She was eventually paroled under the pretense that her attitude had shown improvement. However, Cheng resisted leaving the detention house without receiving acknowledgment from her captors that she had been unjustly treated. When released from jail in 1973, Cheng found that her daughter Meiping, who had been studying to become a film actress, had been murdered by the Red Guards, although the official position was that she had committed suicide. Cheng conducted a discreet investigation and found that this scenario was impossible. The alleged killer of Meiping, a rebel worker named Hu Yongnian, was arrested and given a suspended death sentence by Shanghai authorities in 1980, but was eventually paroled in 1995. After being relocated from her spacious home to a mere two bedrooms on the second floor of a two-story building, Cheng continued her life under constant surveillance, including spying by the family living on the first floor. She lived in China until 1980, when the political climate warmed enough for her to apply for a visa to the United States to visit family. She never returned, first emigrating to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, later to Washington, D.C., where she wrote the memoir.

Summary

The memoir goes into great detail about Cheng's persecution, confinement, and torture, so much so that she said she had to put the manuscript away many times as she wrote it because the memories were so troubling.

Reception

In a 1987 piece for the '' New York Times Books Review'', J.M. Coetzee said the memoir provided "fascinating insights into thought reform in Mao's China" and that it tells "an absorbing story of resourcefulness and courage, spoiled only by a touch of self-righteousness: Mrs. Cheng is always right, her persecutors always wrong." In a 1987 ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' review, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt wrote: "Far from depressing, it is almost exhilarating to witness her mind do battle. Even in English, the keenness of her thought and expression is such that it constitutes some form of martial art, enabling her time and again to absorb the force of her interrogators’ logic and turn it to her own advantage.” In a 1987 review for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', Stanley Karnow wrote: "It is, on one level, a gripping, poignant chronicle of her courage, fortitude and, above all, stubborn integrity during more than six years of cold, hunger, disease, terror and humiliation in a Shanghai jail. At moments I could not continue reading, so vividly does she relate her agony. Yet, inevitably, I felt compelled to go back to its pages, riveted by her struggle to endure, which exalts the triumph of the human spirit over mindless inhumanity." Elena Brunet of '' The Los Angeles Times'' wrote in a 1988 review: "A harrowing story of personal suffering and tragedy, and at the same time a savage and compelling indictment of

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

’s Cultural Revolution, if not of Chinese communism itself." Inspired by the memoir, Corey Hart dedicated an instrumental song to Cheng titled "Ballade for

" in his 1990 album ''Bang!''.

Awards

Life and Death in Shanghai won multiple awards, including New York Times Best Book of the Year (1987) and

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

's Outstanding Books for The College Bound (1996), among others.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Life And Death In Shanghai 1987 non-fiction books Books about Shanghai Books about the Cultural Revolution Chinese memoirs Books about women Grove Press books

Background

Summary

Reception

Awards

See also

Further reading

References