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The Private Life of Chairman Mao
“The most revealing book ever published on Mao, perhaps on any dictator in history.”—Professor Andrew J. Nathan, Columbia University
From 1954 until Mao Zedong's death twenty-two years later, Dr. Li Zhisui was the Chinese ruler's personal physician, which put him in daily—and increasingly intimate—contact with Mao and his inner circle. in The Private Life of Chairman Mao , Dr. Li vividly reconstructs his extraordinary experience at the center of Mao's decadent imperial court.
Dr. Li clarifies numerous long-standing puzzles, such as the true nature of Mao's feelings toward the United States and the Soviet Union. He describes Mao's deliberate rudeness toward Khrushchev and reveals the actual catalyst of Nixon's historic visit. Here are also surprising details of Mao's personal depravity (we see him dependent on barbiturates and refusing to wash, dress, or brush his teeth) and the sexual politics of his court. To millions of Chinese, Mao was more god than man, but for Dr. Li, he was all too human. Dr. Li's intimate account of this lecherous, paranoid tyrant, callously indifferent to the suffering of his people, will forever alter our view of Chairman Mao and of China under his rule.
Praise for The Private Life of Chairman Mao
“From now one no one will be able to pretend to understand Chairman Mao's place in history without reference to this revealing account.” —Professor Lucian Pye, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
“Dr. Li does for Mao what the physician Lord Moran's memoir did for Winston Churchill—turns him into a human being. Here is Mao eccentric, demanding, suspicious, unregretful, lascivious, and unfailingly fascinating. Our view of Mao will never be the same again.” —Ross Terrill, author of China in Our Time
“An extraordinarily intimate portrait of Mao. [Dr. Li] portrays [Mao's imperial court] as a place of boundless decadence, licentiousness, selfishness, relentless toadying and cutthroat political intrigue.” —Richard Bernstein, The New York Times
“One of the most provocative books on Mao to appear since the publication of Edgar Snow's Red Star Over China. ” —Paul G. Pickowicz, The Wall Street Journal
From 1954 until Mao Zedong's death twenty-two years later, Dr. Li Zhisui was the Chinese ruler's personal physician, which put him in daily—and increasingly intimate—contact with Mao and his inner circle. in The Private Life of Chairman Mao , Dr. Li vividly reconstructs his extraordinary experience at the center of Mao's decadent imperial court.
Dr. Li clarifies numerous long-standing puzzles, such as the true nature of Mao's feelings toward the United States and the Soviet Union. He describes Mao's deliberate rudeness toward Khrushchev and reveals the actual catalyst of Nixon's historic visit. Here are also surprising details of Mao's personal depravity (we see him dependent on barbiturates and refusing to wash, dress, or brush his teeth) and the sexual politics of his court. To millions of Chinese, Mao was more god than man, but for Dr. Li, he was all too human. Dr. Li's intimate account of this lecherous, paranoid tyrant, callously indifferent to the suffering of his people, will forever alter our view of Chairman Mao and of China under his rule.
Praise for The Private Life of Chairman Mao
“From now one no one will be able to pretend to understand Chairman Mao's place in history without reference to this revealing account.” —Professor Lucian Pye, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
“Dr. Li does for Mao what the physician Lord Moran's memoir did for Winston Churchill—turns him into a human being. Here is Mao eccentric, demanding, suspicious, unregretful, lascivious, and unfailingly fascinating. Our view of Mao will never be the same again.” —Ross Terrill, author of China in Our Time
“An extraordinarily intimate portrait of Mao. [Dr. Li] portrays [Mao's imperial court] as a place of boundless decadence, licentiousness, selfishness, relentless toadying and cutthroat political intrigue.” —Richard Bernstein, The New York Times
“One of the most provocative books on Mao to appear since the publication of Edgar Snow's Red Star Over China. ” —Paul G. Pickowicz, The Wall Street Journal
736 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
About the author
Li Zhisui
2 books9 followersChinese physician who was the personal physician & confidant of Chairman Mao Zedong. Li received his medical degree from the West Union University Medical School in Sichuan province in 1945 & five years later was named director of the private medical facility that treated China’s top leaders. Beginning in 1954, when Mao chose Li as his personal physician, the two men began to develop a close relationship that lasted until Mao’s death in 1976. During those years, Li compiled a series of diaries. Following Mao’s death, Li held several medical posts before joining his two sons in the USA in 1988. Li’s biography of Mao honored the memory of his late wife, who had urged her husband to share his knowledge with the rest of the world. Relying partly on memory (some 40 diaries were deliberately destroyed during the perilous Cultural Revolution), Li set forth a detailed account of the man he had served for 22 years. The book, which was banned in China as slanderous but became a best-seller in English & several other languages, also provided important details, previously unknown, about many of Mao’s colleagues & of pivotal events that occurred during Mao’s rule
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October 30, 2021
Mao’s private doctor wrote and published this book in 1994 before his death in 1995. It about his experiences with one of the most important figures in modern world history. All readers should question if it is accurate and unbiased. I did as well. My answer is that I just don’t know. However Li was certainly Mao’s doctor during the years presented (1954-1976), and on a high level of the inner circle. His photos and intimate experiences convey little doubt (at least to me) of his close access to Mao. Whatever Li's personal or political motives were to write this book are beyond my ability to discern.
Born in Beijing 1919, Dr. Li was with Mao for over 22 years. They shared meals and details of their personal lives. It’s probably one of the closest pictures of the Chairman you can get without having been there yourself. Undoubtedly there are other accounts written in Chinese I cannot access. For Mao anecdotes, conversations, travel accommodations, sexual habits and hygiene, addictions to cigarettes and sleeping pills it is a convincing primary source. Mao was a rebel and Li was a true believer from initial employment with Mao until his gradual disillusionment. Li trained in Australia and later emigrated to the USA.
Although Mao espoused Chinese traditional medicine he chose western trained doctors for his personal care. Li produced a clear portrait of his former employer from a few years after Mao’s ascension until his death. If you are interested in Mao as a man you cannot forego reading this. It is exciting as well as terrifying. From Mao’s disastrous economic Great Leap Forward in agriculture and industry (’58-62) to his manipulation of fourth wife Jiang Qing to attack foes during the Cultural Revolution (’66-76), this is strong material. You will also learn how Mao liked his food cooked (spicy, Hunan style...mm mm good).
So why did Li write this book? It is said that Mao's wife Jiang accused Li of poisoning her in 1968, a scary predicament. It is known Li left for the USA in 1979 shortly after Mao died. He helped to preserve Mao’s body which is still displayed in a mausoleum on Tiananmen Square. Li was an early convert to communism but later changed his mind based on the events around him. He came to be frightened by his proximity to Mao's absolute power and ruthlessness and burned his notebooks during the later years. It's an important account that will continue to be referenced by authors in the future as it has been in the past.
Born in Beijing 1919, Dr. Li was with Mao for over 22 years. They shared meals and details of their personal lives. It’s probably one of the closest pictures of the Chairman you can get without having been there yourself. Undoubtedly there are other accounts written in Chinese I cannot access. For Mao anecdotes, conversations, travel accommodations, sexual habits and hygiene, addictions to cigarettes and sleeping pills it is a convincing primary source. Mao was a rebel and Li was a true believer from initial employment with Mao until his gradual disillusionment. Li trained in Australia and later emigrated to the USA.
Although Mao espoused Chinese traditional medicine he chose western trained doctors for his personal care. Li produced a clear portrait of his former employer from a few years after Mao’s ascension until his death. If you are interested in Mao as a man you cannot forego reading this. It is exciting as well as terrifying. From Mao’s disastrous economic Great Leap Forward in agriculture and industry (’58-62) to his manipulation of fourth wife Jiang Qing to attack foes during the Cultural Revolution (’66-76), this is strong material. You will also learn how Mao liked his food cooked (spicy, Hunan style...mm mm good).
So why did Li write this book? It is said that Mao's wife Jiang accused Li of poisoning her in 1968, a scary predicament. It is known Li left for the USA in 1979 shortly after Mao died. He helped to preserve Mao’s body which is still displayed in a mausoleum on Tiananmen Square. Li was an early convert to communism but later changed his mind based on the events around him. He came to be frightened by his proximity to Mao's absolute power and ruthlessness and burned his notebooks during the later years. It's an important account that will continue to be referenced by authors in the future as it has been in the past.
June 20, 2017
Li Zhisui served as a personal physician to Mao Zedong for twenty-two years. And yet he doesn’t have much to say in his 700-odd page memoir that could be considered worthwhile.
Zhisui in fact warns the reader in the introduction about his political naivety, so there's that. And it also doesn’t help that he wrote this memoir entirely by recollecting the incidents from memory.
Zhisui actually comes-off as a reluctant memoirist, which I consider unforgivably oxymoronic. For example, he finds sex to be a really offensive subject and so, he shies away from it as much as he can at every turn. He says that he was never interested in politics, but then he rants endlessly about the piddling conflicts perennially happening between Mao’s bodyguards and nurses. What he should have said – for accuracy’s sake - was that he was not interested in state politics. He was all for inconsequential office politics. In other words, he was apathetic to things that mattered, but not to those that did not, which makes this book as interesting as a 700-page long doctor’s prescription, where he dedicates more than half of the pages to write about men of Mao’s inner security circle and their petty politics to earn Mao’s favor, or in most cases, to avoid his wrath.
Though, he begins the first chapter interestingly enough with Mao’s death. Zhisui candidly talks about his lack of knowledge about the embalming process, and how, due to that, at one time Mao’s face becomes bloated to almost double its size due to the injection of excessive embalming fluid. At the least, that is one little, interesting tidbit you won’t find anywhere else except in Zhisui’s book.
What little I did learn from this book was - that Mao was some sort of “half-nudist” (he seldom wore enough clothes), who never washed, never brushed his teeth (Zhisui used to remove layers of plaque from his teeth twice a year) or left his bed for a considerable amount of time. He also liked to seduce young and innocent girls and knowingly used to infect them with a venereal disease he carried. He only used to take sponge baths, occasionally. Only time he ever got himself immersed fully in water was when he decided to swim in a river for hours on end to show his “manliness” (no wonder the river dolphins went extinct).
But what I consider his biggest mistake is that he missed a really good opportunity to provide us a peek into the mind of one of the worst dictators the world has ever seen. You see, Mao liked Li. And so he used to talk with Li frequently from midnight till dawn. Only if Zhisui would have been kind enough to tell us what actually they talked about. Not once does he feels inclined enough to recount any of the countless conversations he had had with Mao. He would just say something like, “We talked till dawn and then I returned to my whatever.”
This book should be re-titled “The Petty Internal Politics of Chairman Mao’s Bodyguards”.
March 5, 2008
Wow. This man is insane. Forget the failed economic policies. Forget 30 million people killed (some say 60 million and I've even heard 90 million) as a result of his tyranny. Forget the underground city he built. This man's private life is more insane. His insanity seemed quite contagious as the book starts out with the author in charge of preserving the man's corpse with pressure from other high officials. This was immediately hilarious as you read about Mao's face falling off and his body becoming bloated. Preserving a leader's corpse for further senseless worship is just the beginning to the book's hilarity. Don't expect any 20th century Chinese history as the author in this book was not in a position to learn about what was going on throughout the country except through Mao who was a horrible source for that sort of information. For example, the author was surprised when Mao told him, "Good news, we liberated our brothers in Tibet." This may fall under the category of sick humor if you have read anything about the brutal Chinese takeover of Tibet. It's harder to find a book more insightful to the potential madness power can create. Also, this book satisfies curiousity of those who know of Mao's policy and want to know what the hell were officials thinking, or how someone could be so heartless as well as stupid to implement these plans. The author exposes the inner politics of Beijing and the political logic of Mao. Last, this book shows how people became so obsessed with this figure. I don't think there is another book that digs as deep and exposes so much of a historical figure. Maybe Mao's rule is less a product of political ideology but more of Chinese culture. Mao, according to The Private Life, modeled himself after Chinese emperors especially the nut Qin Shi Huang, who ordered the construction of the beginning of the great wall and the terracotta warriors.
June 28, 2021
The green-dicked Mao...when he died
the only right thing he'd ever done in his life was DIE
the only right thing he'd ever done in his life was DIE
Read
February 25, 2021前話
作者的第二本書《中南海回想錄》未完成就去世了，這該不會是狗共幹的好事吧？
說這是野史的人，估計是腦殘吧
內容簡介
【熱銷35萬冊，歷史經典重現】
揭露毛澤東的性、政治、死亡和權謀內幕
近距觀察毛澤東第一手珍貴史料
毛澤東的生理與心理，和他的絕對權力交互影響，進而波及中國和世界。
本書以絕對第一手資料，披露毛澤東的政治與權謀，性與死亡。
這是有關毛（或許也是有關歷史上任何一位專制者）的著作中，最深刻入微的一本。
——黎安友（美國漢學家／哥倫比亞大學政治系教授）
作者自一九五四年被任命為毛澤東的保健醫生後，便將平日所見所聞記錄下來寫成日記。一九六六年，文化大革命中興起抄家風，害怕受到牽連，李家將日記全數燒燬。一九七六年文革結束後，作者妻子催促他寫出之前的種種經歷。一九九四年十月，移居美國的作者透過蘭登書屋出版了《毛澤東私人醫生回憶錄》。由於書中敘述親眼所見的毛澤東其人其事，詳細披露了毛不光彩的真實面貌，因此引發中共高層震怒。
本書娓娓道來作者自一九五四年到一九七六年，擔任毛澤東私人醫生二十二年的親身經歷。從作者對毛澤東的臨終急救揭起序幕，毛死後，中南海內部腥風血雨的權力鬥爭和宮廷政變就此展開。作者被下達遺體要永久保存的命令，在物資缺乏、技術落後的年代，其醫療小組想方設法在毛遺體上大動手腳、做���實驗，只為讓毛遺體看似永保不死、供人瞻仰。作者在多方爭鬥下，屢次經歷生死一瞬。
作者也詳盡描述關於治療毛澤東身體和精神上的毛病，中晚年的生理與心理變化，毛的性生活與他對身邊人事物和國際局勢的態度，中南海內部鬥爭、宮廷性政治，以及中共決策高層的神秘內幕等。透過李醫生的親身觀察與記錄，以真摯細膩的筆觸，描繪出一幕幕不可思議的荒謬劇，是了解毛澤東與共產黨前所未有的第一手珍貴史料。
除了深刻描繪毛澤東與其身邊人物的種種細節外，本書的另一主軸敘述作者對毛從由衷敬佩到徹底幻滅的轉變，他穿過密障走入毛澤東的真實生活，親眼目睹了毛澤東濫用權力玩弄人與事，性生活糜爛，並以宣傳口號捏造個人崇拜，尤其是他漠視政策的失敗，導致廣大人民的痛苦。作者直指，毛澤東幕前幕後的所作所為，正如中國封建時代的帝王。
目錄
前言（黎安友）
自序
致謝
中南海地圖
中共黨組織表
中共中央辦公廳組織表
序幕：毛澤東之死
第一篇：一九四九年～一九五七年
第二篇：一九五七年～一九六五年
第三篇：一九六五年～一九七六年
終曲
人物簡介
年表
序
自序
一九六○年中國青年雜誌社通過毛澤東的祕書田家英，向我徵求稿件。
田在中南海南樓的宿舍，和我貼鄰。他平時知道我喜歡作點雜記，其中個別篇章，他還看過，這時他勸我選出一、二篇刊登出去。
自從一九五四年，我被任命為毛澤東的保健醫生以後，空下來我將平日的所見所聞記錄下來，一者為了消磨時間，二者有時拿出來翻翻，作為流逝的年華的紀念，完全沒有想發表的意思。因此，我拒絕了《中國青年雜誌》的徵稿要求。
開始只是記錄一些趣聞趣事。時間一久，成為習慣，於是寫成無所不容的日記了。到一九六六年時，已經積累了四十幾本。
一九六六年下半年，紅衛兵興起了抄家風。這時我已遷到弓弦胡同中央保健局宿舍。前後院住了三位衛生部副部長。我自己住在中南海內，很少回家。可是一回來，嫻就同我說，幾乎天天晚上，來人抄這三位副部長的家。時常敲錯門，敲打我家。嫻很害怕，萬一抄錯了，進來將這四十幾本雜記抄走，豈不是有了十惡不赦的罪狀了，應該趕緊燒掉。
我抱著這四十幾本雜記發愁，不敢在家裡燒，怕鄰居懷疑而揭發，又沒有地方可藏。於是我將這些雜記帶到中南海內一組，即毛澤東的住地。靠南牆的小院內，有一個焚化爐，是為了毛澤東和江青不需保存的文件、信件，加以銷毀之用。我就用這個爐子焚燒。燒到還剩下十多本的時候，汪東興打電話叫我到他那裡。他問我，現在正是抄家的時候，江青的廚師告發我，在一組燒毀文件。我告訴汪，我燒的不是文件，是我的筆記。汪說，筆記有什麼要緊，何必燒。我說，這些筆記都同毛有關係，留下怕惹禍。汪說，你一燒，更惹禍，這個廚子如果告訴了江青，就完了。
我回到一組，看到剩下的十幾本日記，心想這些留下來是禍害，反正已經燒了，再燒一次吧！
第二天汪東興又將我叫去。這回他急了，對我嚷！「叫你不要燒，你還燒。主席的廚子來告你的狀了。這事要鬧出去，就成了大問題。你再不聽話，我把你關起來。」
我向汪說，已經燒完了，再也沒有可以燒的了。
這就是我積累了十幾年下來的日記的下場。
文化大革命中間，我一天到晚提心吊膽，片紙隻字都沒有保存下來。
一九七六年四人幫被捕以後，嫻常常惋惜地說：「太可惜了，那四十幾本日記。如果能保存下來，也沒有事。天下本無事，庸人自擾之。」為此她常催促我，寫出這一段的經歷。
一九七七年夏，葉劍英到三○五醫院檢查身體。檢查間隙，葉同我談到往事。他說：「你給毛主席工作了二十二年，時間可不短了。你應該將你知道的事，寫了出來，這也是歷史啊。」他並且說，他要向一些報刊代我宣傳。
此後多種報刊雜誌都找我，要我投稿。他們願意優先刊登。但是我不��投稿。因為經過這麼多年的觀察，凡是講真心話的文章，作者不被封為右派，即冠以反動文人的稱號，沒有一個可以倖免。我又不想寫歌功頌德，粉飾太平的文章。
但是我又不願意讓我的這些年的經歷，湮沒無存。於是我重新拾起舊憶���撰寫回憶錄。從一九七七年開始執筆，斷斷續續，又寫了二十多本。我並沒有想整理發表，因為根本沒有公開發表的可能性，何況我不想因之取禍。這只不過作為我和嫻逝去的年華的雪泥鴻爪，留作紀念吧。
一九八八年二月，嫻發現患有慢性腎功能衰竭。五月住院，到七月下旬，病勢日趨嚴重。兩個孩子、兩個兒媳，都十分焦急。他們一再催促我攜嫻來美國求醫。
八月中旬我與嫻帶著孫女到了美國。嫻繼續求治。我每天要照管嫻的飲食和治療，雖然嫻多次提到，將舊作整理出來，但是我哪裡有這種心境和時間呢。
十二月中旬，嫻因感冒，病勢急轉直下，送入醫院，住院治療。經過多方搶救，終於因為腎功能衰竭，一九八九年一月十二日去世。她陷入昏迷前，還一再叮囑我，要將一九四九以來，這三十九年中的遭遇寫出來。她說：「一定寫出來，為了你，為了我，也為了我們的後代。可惜我不能再幫助你了。」
一九八九年三月，我點檢行篋，取出了舊記和帶來的全部資料，開始了寫作生活。這一方面是對嫻的永久的紀念。另一方面，身在美國，就可以將這些年的所見所聞，秉筆直書，無需避諱，加以發表。
如果讀過本書以後，讀者能夠更加珍惜自己的理想和所嚮往的幸福的話，那將是我和嫻多年來的最大願望。
經過了二十二年的血腥戰爭，一九四九年中國共產黨終於取代國民黨，統治了中國大陸，建立了中華人民共和國。
當年夏天，我正在澳大利亞。由我大哥的從中介紹，中國共產黨中央軍事委員會衛生部副部長傅連暲來信，希望我回去工作。於是我返回香港，同我的妻子嫻一道回到北平。
傅安排我到了中共中央辦公廳行政處香山門診部，後遷入中南海，成立中南海門診部。
我工作勤奮，受到中共中央一些高級幹部和一般工作人員的讚譽，被選為中共中央辦公廳和中共中央直屬機關的甲等工作模範，吸收入黨，並被任命為中南海門診部主任，後為中南海保健辦公室主任、中央衛生部醫學科學委員會副祕書長及中共中央辦公廳警衛局三○五醫院院長。
一九五四年，經警衛局局長汪東興推薦，通過中共中央辦公廳主任楊尚昆和中央公安部部長羅瑞卿同意，由周恩來批准，我被任命為毛澤東的保健醫生，以後並兼任毛的醫療組組長。從此，直到一九七六年毛去世為止，��作為毛的專職健康保護人和監護人，無論在北京或去外地，都跟隨在他身邊，為時二十二年。
我初到毛處工作，即驚異於他的生活習慣與眾不同：飲食睡眠都沒有一定的時間，正是「起居無時，飲食無常」。對他說來，一天二十四小時之分，晝夜之分，毫無意義。他的一切公私活動，甚至接見外國元首，都以他的意願為主，都不事先通知，而採取突然行動。即使在身邊工作的人員，也摸不清他下一個行動是什麼。加上共產黨內部控制嚴密，強化保密制度，毛本人親自規定：「不要說這裡的情況」，所以他的真實狀況，從政治行動到私人生活，都籠罩在一層迷霧之中，更形增加了他的神化感和權威感。
一九五九年以前，我崇拜他，仰望他如泰山北斗。但是我雖在他身邊，在他的周圍似乎有一重神祕而不可逾越的障隔，使我不能真正進入他的生活。
一九五九年以後，我逐漸穿過這層密障，進入了他的實際生活。原來他正如演員一樣，除去前台的經過種種化妝的他以外，還有一個後台的真實的他在。
五○年代初期，人們只看到他與蘇聯訂立了「中蘇友好互助同盟條約」，號召「一邊倒」，但不知早在三○年代，他就被蘇聯共產黨和史達林目為「異端分子」，是「白心的紅皮蘿葡」。一九四九年冬他去蘇聯，受到極大的冷淡待遇，住了兩個月，在他最後憤然要回國時，史達林才見了他，簽了這個條約。他認為蘇聯是中國的最大威脅，最終目的是吞併中國。只是到六○年代初，中蘇關係的破裂才公開化。
自從斯諾等人訪問陝北中國共產黨的根據地，向全世界介紹了中國共產黨的生存奇蹟以來，他對美國，特別美國人，有很大好感。當他號召「學習蘇聯」，大家學俄語的時候，他不學俄文，而學英文。他自嘲說：「我是言行不符。」他身邊所用的知識份子，包括我在內，都是受英美教育出來的人。他決不將由蘇聯培養出來的人放在身邊。至於韓戰及越戰是由許多因素，也包括美國一些不了解毛的內心世界和對當時中國共產黨有歧見的人士造成的歷史大不幸。從六○年代末期，毛即致力於恢復中美友好關係，而這一歷史使命的完成，是他去世前實現的。
毛對蔣介石，雖然終生為敵，但並不持完全否定的態度。他認為蔣有強烈的民族自尊心，不俯首貼耳聽命於美國。他說：「蔣介石和我都主張只有一個中國，在這點上我們志同道合。」
共產黨核心領導層中的鬥爭，既複雜又曲折。自一九五七年的所謂「反右派鬥爭」，一九五九年廬山會議批鬥彭德懷（當時的中共中央政治局委員、國防部部長），演變到一九六六年開始的文化大革命，在表面上有著這樣或那樣的原因，但實際上卻存在一個根本的因素。一九五六年蘇聯共產黨二十次代表大會上「反史達林」、「反對個人崇拜」的運動，在中國共產黨內引起一連串反應。毛從種種跡象感到，他作為全黨的最高領導地位受到動搖，因而做出一系列相應的反應。正如中央警衛局局長汪東興所說：「毛認為，全黨沒有誰都可以，可是不能沒有他。」
毛的私生活駭人聽聞。外表上，他凝重端莊，而又和藹可親，儼然是一位忠厚長者。但是他一貫將女人作為玩物；特別到晚年，過的是靡爛透頂的生活。他沒有別的娛樂，玩弄女人成了他唯一的樂趣。汪東興說：「他是不是覺著要死了，所以要大撈一把。要不然怎麼會有這麼大的興趣，這麼大的勁？」江青說過：「在政治上，不論蘇聯和中國黨的領導人，沒有哪一個能鬥過他（毛澤東）的縱橫捭闔的手段。在生活問題上，也沒有誰能鬥得過他，管得住他。」
我不是給毛寫傳記，只不過作為毛的保健醫生，在二十二年的風風雨雨中，將我的親身經歷，及所見所聞，筆之於書，用以紀念與我患難與共的愛妻嫻，沒有她生前對我的支持和一再鼓勵，我不會寫成這本書。
時間間隔太久，又沒有讀些參考文獻，疏漏之處在所難免，亟盼讀者方家斧正。
In 2009, I read a digital edition of Traditional Chinese of this book which was sent by a net pal who was in Honkong at the time
He, the author mentioned that when Mao was dying, his dick was green, which just gave a hint that Mao might've died of VD
Why couldn't an emperor be impotent? He'd been fucking and murdering all his life, right? So it wouldn't be weird if the King of Chinkland might die of sexual causes
(to be continued)
作者的第二本書《中南海回想錄》未完成就去世了，這該不會是狗共幹的好事吧？
說這是野史的人，估計是腦殘吧
內容簡介
【熱銷35萬冊，歷史經典重現】
揭露毛澤東的性、政治、死亡和權謀內幕
近距觀察毛澤東第一手珍貴史料
毛澤東的生理與心理，和他的絕對權力交互影響，進而波及中國和世界。
本書以絕對第一手資料，披露毛澤東的政治與權謀，性與死亡。
這是有關毛（或許也是有關歷史上任何一位專制者）的著作中，最深刻入微的一本。
——黎安友（美國漢學家／哥倫比亞大學政治系教授）
作者自一九五四年被任命為毛澤東的保健醫生後，便將平日所見所聞記錄下來寫成日記。一九六六年，文化大革命中興起抄家風，害怕受到牽連，李家將日記全數燒燬。一九七六年文革結束後，作者妻子催促他寫出之前的種種經歷。一九九四年十月，移居美國的作者透過蘭登書屋出版了《毛澤東私人醫生回憶錄》。由於書中敘述親眼所見的毛澤東其人其事，詳細披露了毛不光彩的真實面貌，因此引發中共高層震怒。
本書娓娓道來作者自一九五四年到一九七六年，擔任毛澤東私人醫生二十二年的親身經歷。從作者對毛澤東的臨終急救揭起序幕，毛死後，中南海內部腥風血雨的權力鬥爭和宮廷政變就此展開。作者被下達遺體要永久保存的命令，在物資缺乏、技術落後的年代，其醫療小組想方設法在毛遺體上大動手腳、做���實驗，只為讓毛遺體看似永保不死、供人瞻仰。作者在多方爭鬥下，屢次經歷生死一瞬。
作者也詳盡描述關於治療毛澤東身體和精神上的毛病，中晚年的生理與心理變化，毛的性生活與他對身邊人事物和國際局勢的態度，中南海內部鬥爭、宮廷性政治，以及中共決策高層的神秘內幕等。透過李醫生的親身觀察與記錄，以真摯細膩的筆觸，描繪出一幕幕不可思議的荒謬劇，是了解毛澤東與共產黨前所未有的第一手珍貴史料。
除了深刻描繪毛澤東與其身邊人物的種種細節外，本書的另一主軸敘述作者對毛從由衷敬佩到徹底幻滅的轉變，他穿過密障走入毛澤東的真實生活，親眼目睹了毛澤東濫用權力玩弄人與事，性生活糜爛，並以宣傳口號捏造個人崇拜，尤其是他漠視政策的失敗，導致廣大人民的痛苦。作者直指，毛澤東幕前幕後的所作所為，正如中國封建時代的帝王。
目錄
前言（黎安友）
自序
致謝
中南海地圖
中共黨組織表
中共中央辦公廳組織表
序幕：毛澤東之死
第一篇：一九四九年～一九五七年
第二篇：一九五七年～一九六五年
第三篇：一九六五年～一九七六年
終曲
人物簡介
年表
序
自序
一九六○年中國青年雜誌社通過毛澤東的祕書田家英，向我徵求稿件。
田在中南海南樓的宿舍，和我貼鄰。他平時知道我喜歡作點雜記，其中個別篇章，他還看過，這時他勸我選出一、二篇刊登出去。
自從一九五四年，我被任命為毛澤東的保健醫生以後，空下來我將平日的所見所聞記錄下來，一者為了消磨時間，二者有時拿出來翻翻，作為流逝的年華的紀念，完全沒有想發表的意思。因此，我拒絕了《中國青年雜誌》的徵稿要求。
開始只是記錄一些趣聞趣事。時間一久，成為習慣，於是寫成無所不容的日記了。到一九六六年時，已經積累了四十幾本。
一九六六年下半年，紅衛兵興起了抄家風。這時我已遷到弓弦胡同中央保健局宿舍。前後院住了三位衛生部副部長。我自己住在中南海內，很少回家。可是一回來，嫻就同我說，幾乎天天晚上，來人抄這三位副部長的家。時常敲錯門，敲打我家。嫻很害怕，萬一抄錯了，進來將這四十幾本雜記抄走，豈不是有了十惡不赦的罪狀了，應該趕緊燒掉。
我抱著這四十幾本雜記發愁，不敢在家裡燒，怕鄰居懷疑而揭發，又沒有地方可藏。於是我將這些雜記帶到中南海內一組，即毛澤東的住地。靠南牆的小院內，有一個焚化爐，是為了毛澤東和江青不需保存的文件、信件，加以銷毀之用。我就用這個爐子焚燒。燒到還剩下十多本的時候，汪東興打電話叫我到他那裡。他問我，現在正是抄家的時候，江青的廚師告發我，在一組燒毀文件。我告訴汪，我燒的不是文件，是我的筆記。汪說，筆記有什麼要緊，何必燒。我說，這些筆記都同毛有關係，留下怕惹禍。汪說，你一燒，更惹禍，這個廚子如果告訴了江青，就完了。
我回到一組，看到剩下的十幾本日記，心想這些留下來是禍害，反正已經燒了，再燒一次吧！
第二天汪東興又將我叫去。這回他急了，對我嚷！「叫你不要燒，你還燒。主席的廚子來告你的狀了。這事要鬧出去，就成了大問題。你再不聽話，我把你關起來。」
我向汪說，已經燒完了，再也沒有可以燒的了。
這就是我積累了十幾年下來的日記的下場。
文化大革命中間，我一天到晚提心吊膽，片紙隻字都沒有保存下來。
一九七六年四人幫被捕以後，嫻常常惋惜地說：「太可惜了，那四十幾本日記。如果能保存下來，也沒有事。天下本無事，庸人自擾之。」為此她常催促我，寫出這一段的經歷。
一九七七年夏，葉劍英到三○五醫院檢查身體。檢查間隙，葉同我談到往事。他說：「你給毛主席工作了二十二年，時間可不短了。你應該將你知道的事，寫了出來，這也是歷史啊。」他並且說，他要向一些報刊代我宣傳。
此後多種報刊雜誌都找我，要我投稿。他們願意優先刊登。但是我不��投稿。因為經過這麼多年的觀察，凡是講真心話的文章，作者不被封為右派，即冠以反動文人的稱號，沒有一個可以倖免。我又不想寫歌功頌德，粉飾太平的文章。
但是我又不願意讓我的這些年的經歷，湮沒無存。於是我重新拾起舊憶���撰寫回憶錄。從一九七七年開始執筆，斷斷續續，又寫了二十多本。我並沒有想整理發表，因為根本沒有公開發表的可能性，何況我不想因之取禍。這只不過作為我和嫻逝去的年華的雪泥鴻爪，留作紀念吧。
一九八八年二月，嫻發現患有慢性腎功能衰竭。五月住院，到七月下旬，病勢日趨嚴重。兩個孩子、兩個兒媳，都十分焦急。他們一再催促我攜嫻來美國求醫。
八月中旬我與嫻帶著孫女到了美國。嫻繼續求治。我每天要照管嫻的飲食和治療，雖然嫻多次提到，將舊作整理出來，但是我哪裡有這種心境和時間呢。
十二月中旬，嫻因感冒，病勢急轉直下，送入醫院，住院治療。經過多方搶救，終於因為腎功能衰竭，一九八九年一月十二日去世。她陷入昏迷前，還一再叮囑我，要將一九四九以來，這三十九年中的遭遇寫出來。她說：「一定寫出來，為了你，為了我，也為了我們的後代。可惜我不能再幫助你了。」
一九八九年三月，我點檢行篋，取出了舊記和帶來的全部資料，開始了寫作生活。這一方面是對嫻的永久的紀念。另一方面，身在美國，就可以將這些年的所見所聞，秉筆直書，無需避諱，加以發表。
如果讀過本書以後，讀者能夠更加珍惜自己的理想和所嚮往的幸福的話，那將是我和嫻多年來的最大願望。
經過了二十二年的血腥戰爭，一九四九年中國共產黨終於取代國民黨，統治了中國大陸，建立了中華人民共和國。
當年夏天，我正在澳大利亞。由我大哥的從中介紹，中國共產黨中央軍事委員會衛生部副部長傅連暲來信，希望我回去工作。於是我返回香港，同我的妻子嫻一道回到北平。
傅安排我到了中共中央辦公廳行政處香山門診部，後遷入中南海，成立中南海門診部。
我工作勤奮，受到中共中央一些高級幹部和一般工作人員的讚譽，被選為中共中央辦公廳和中共中央直屬機關的甲等工作模範，吸收入黨，並被任命為中南海門診部主任，後為中南海保健辦公室主任、中央衛生部醫學科學委員會副祕書長及中共中央辦公廳警衛局三○五醫院院長。
一九五四年，經警衛局局長汪東興推薦，通過中共中央辦公廳主任楊尚昆和中央公安部部長羅瑞卿同意，由周恩來批准，我被任命為毛澤東的保健醫生，以後並兼任毛的醫療組組長。從此，直到一九七六年毛去世為止，��作為毛的專職健康保護人和監護人，無論在北京或去外地，都跟隨在他身邊，為時二十二年。
我初到毛處工作，即驚異於他的生活習慣與眾不同：飲食睡眠都沒有一定的時間，正是「起居無時，飲食無常」。對他說來，一天二十四小時之分，晝夜之分，毫無意義。他的一切公私活動，甚至接見外國元首，都以他的意願為主，都不事先通知，而採取突然行動。即使在身邊工作的人員，也摸不清他下一個行動是什麼。加上共產黨內部控制嚴密，強化保密制度，毛本人親自規定：「不要說這裡的情況」，所以他的真實狀況，從政治行動到私人生活，都籠罩在一層迷霧之中，更形增加了他的神化感和權威感。
一九五九年以前，我崇拜他，仰望他如泰山北斗。但是我雖在他身邊，在他的周圍似乎有一重神祕而不可逾越的障隔，使我不能真正進入他的生活。
一九五九年以後，我逐漸穿過這層密障，進入了他的實際生活。原來他正如演員一樣，除去前台的經過種種化妝的他以外，還有一個後台的真實的他在。
五○年代初期，人們只看到他與蘇聯訂立了「中蘇友好互助同盟條約」，號召「一邊倒」，但不知早在三○年代，他就被蘇聯共產黨和史達林目為「異端分子」，是「白心的紅皮蘿葡」。一九四九年冬他去蘇聯，受到極大的冷淡待遇，住了兩個月，在他最後憤然要回國時，史達林才見了他，簽了這個條約。他認為蘇聯是中國的最大威脅，最終目的是吞併中國。只是到六○年代初，中蘇關係的破裂才公開化。
自從斯諾等人訪問陝北中國共產黨的根據地，向全世界介紹了中國共產黨的生存奇蹟以來，他對美國，特別美國人，有很大好感。當他號召「學習蘇聯」，大家學俄語的時候，他不學俄文，而學英文。他自嘲說：「我是言行不符。」他身邊所用的知識份子，包括我在內，都是受英美教育出來的人。他決不將由蘇聯培養出來的人放在身邊。至於韓戰及越戰是由許多因素，也包括美國一些不了解毛的內心世界和對當時中國共產黨有歧見的人士造成的歷史大不幸。從六○年代末期，毛即致力於恢復中美友好關係，而這一歷史使命的完成，是他去世前實現的。
毛對蔣介石，雖然終生為敵，但並不持完全否定的態度。他認為蔣有強烈的民族自尊心，不俯首貼耳聽命於美國。他說：「蔣介石和我都主張只有一個中國，在這點上我們志同道合。」
共產黨核心領導層中的鬥爭，既複雜又曲折。自一九五七年的所謂「反右派鬥爭」，一九五九年廬山會議批鬥彭德懷（當時的中共中央政治局委員、國防部部長），演變到一九六六年開始的文化大革命，在表面上有著這樣或那樣的原因，但實際上卻存在一個根本的因素。一九五六年蘇聯共產黨二十次代表大會上「反史達林」、「反對個人崇拜」的運動，在中國共產黨內引起一連串反應。毛從種種跡象感到，他作為全黨的最高領導地位受到動搖，因而做出一系列相應的反應。正如中央警衛局局長汪東興所說：「毛認為，全黨沒有誰都可以，可是不能沒有他。」
毛的私生活駭人聽聞。外表上，他凝重端莊，而又和藹可親，儼然是一位忠厚長者。但是他一貫將女人作為玩物；特別到晚年，過的是靡爛透頂的生活。他沒有別的娛樂，玩弄女人成了他唯一的樂趣。汪東興說：「他是不是覺著要死了，所以要大撈一把。要不然怎麼會有這麼大的興趣，這麼大的勁？」江青說過：「在政治上，不論蘇聯和中國黨的領導人，沒有哪一個能鬥過他（毛澤東）的縱橫捭闔的手段。在生活問題上，也沒有誰能鬥得過他，管得住他。」
我不是給毛寫傳記，只不過作為毛的保健醫生，在二十二年的風風雨雨中，將我的親身經歷，及所見所聞，筆之於書，用以紀念與我患難與共的愛妻嫻，沒有她生前對我的支持和一再鼓勵，我不會寫成這本書。
時間間隔太久，又沒有讀些參考文獻，疏漏之處在所難免，亟盼讀者方家斧正。
In 2009, I read a digital edition of Traditional Chinese of this book which was sent by a net pal who was in Honkong at the time
He, the author mentioned that when Mao was dying, his dick was green, which just gave a hint that Mao might've died of VD
Why couldn't an emperor be impotent? He'd been fucking and murdering all his life, right? So it wouldn't be weird if the King of Chinkland might die of sexual causes
(to be continued)
March 7, 2011
This is one of the best China books I've read and I've read about 50 of them. It's long and very involved, but written in a clear and fluid style. It is, quite simply, fascinating; brimful with interesting episodes and tidbits impossible to find anywhere else. Details about Mao's illnesses, drug addictions, sex life, and death are particularly salient, while figures and topics you can find in nearly any China book (Jiang Qing, Lin Biao, the Cultural Revolution, the Great Leap Forward, etc.) are presented in a whole new light.
Penned by an erudite and Western-educated man who saw and spoke with the chairman nearly every day he was in power, the Private Life of Chairman Mao is more engaging than most "standard" Mao biographies, which is, of course, because it is a first-hand, behind-the-scenes account. It may take you a while to get through it, and you may wish to supplement it with one of those "standard" biographies, but if you've got a bit of mental stamina or consider yourself a serious China watcher, this narrative is a must.
Penned by an erudite and Western-educated man who saw and spoke with the chairman nearly every day he was in power, the Private Life of Chairman Mao is more engaging than most "standard" Mao biographies, which is, of course, because it is a first-hand, behind-the-scenes account. It may take you a while to get through it, and you may wish to supplement it with one of those "standard" biographies, but if you've got a bit of mental stamina or consider yourself a serious China watcher, this narrative is a must.
June 24, 2017
I "borrowed" this book from a hotel library in Playa del Carmen last summer. I just finished it today. I relished it. I see so many of the behaviors described here reenacted in our current cultural wars, especially among my liberal brethren. The same obsession with ideological purity, the same appetite for purges, for branding as a "counterrevolutionary" whoever does not toe the line. The word has changed, though, and been substituted by many others. I'll leave it to you, kind reader, to figure out which ones I mean.
Mao, like Fidel, like Hitler, like Franco, like Mussolini, was a big child coddled by childish and frightened masses. And as incompetent, self-indulgent, megalomaniac, and arrogant as the rest of them. Dr Zhisui narrates the gradually unfolding nightmare of a 1984'ish totalitarian dystopia where dissent, in deed, word, and thought, was proscribed, and where friendships, casual support, and tenuous social ties were minutely tallied and recorded to better recompense, or punish, members of the party. A scenario of crippling claustrophobia that reached its climax during the hysterical Cultural Revolution.
Lady Macbeth is a nun in a convent compared to the stifling, ambitious, venomous Jiang Qing, a character that will stay with me against my will, like one of those terrible songs that play in a loop in your brain and slowly drive you insane.
Next up, Jung Chang's Mao: The Untold Story.
Mao, like Fidel, like Hitler, like Franco, like Mussolini, was a big child coddled by childish and frightened masses. And as incompetent, self-indulgent, megalomaniac, and arrogant as the rest of them. Dr Zhisui narrates the gradually unfolding nightmare of a 1984'ish totalitarian dystopia where dissent, in deed, word, and thought, was proscribed, and where friendships, casual support, and tenuous social ties were minutely tallied and recorded to better recompense, or punish, members of the party. A scenario of crippling claustrophobia that reached its climax during the hysterical Cultural Revolution.
Lady Macbeth is a nun in a convent compared to the stifling, ambitious, venomous Jiang Qing, a character that will stay with me against my will, like one of those terrible songs that play in a loop in your brain and slowly drive you insane.
Next up, Jung Chang's Mao: The Untold Story.
December 17, 2012
This book is flawed in many respects. First, its author is an admitted naif as re politics, history, psychology etc. Although he delves into such perspectives, he doesn't get much beyond the surface. Second, as he also admits, his class background was bourgeois, his exposure to the lives of ordinary Chinese only coming late in his career. Third, he only entered the scene late, after the revolution. Fourth, having burned his original notes, his memoir is based on memory.
All of those considerations notwithstanding, I found this lengthy account a page-turner. While only skimming the major events of the period of the late forties to the mid-seventies, it did serve as a welcome refresher. The medical details are, of course, invaluable, given the author's expertise and privileged position. The personal details about the Chinese leadership and the politics of their "court" were intriguing. The whole thing came across, for me at least, as a meditation about how power can corrupt.
Although publicity for this book seems to emphasize Mao's sex life, Dr. Li really doesn't offer any purient detail. He found it more offensive than interesting.
All of those considerations notwithstanding, I found this lengthy account a page-turner. While only skimming the major events of the period of the late forties to the mid-seventies, it did serve as a welcome refresher. The medical details are, of course, invaluable, given the author's expertise and privileged position. The personal details about the Chinese leadership and the politics of their "court" were intriguing. The whole thing came across, for me at least, as a meditation about how power can corrupt.
Although publicity for this book seems to emphasize Mao's sex life, Dr. Li really doesn't offer any purient detail. He found it more offensive than interesting.
March 28, 2024
It’s hard to know what exactly to rate this book, but given the incredibly rare behind-the-scenes access to observing the personality, behavior, and often perversions of one of modern history’s most divisive (as well as tyrannical) dictators, I’d have to say that this nearly 700-page recollection is invaluable.
Given the fact that there’s never been a more detailed memoir published by a figure with such an intimate relationship to any other dictatorial/totalitarian/authoritarian leader (as the foreword to the book states, Albert Speer knew Hitler well, but their common interests didn’t extend beyond public works and war. Stalin’s daughter rarely saw her father, and diaries written by Hitler’s and Napoleon’s physicians remained solely clinical) Dr. Li Zhisui was able, as author Ross Terrill puts it, to ”turn him into a human being. Here is Mao unveiled: eccentric, demanding, suspicious, unregretful, lascivious, and unfailingly fascinating.” For this intensive piece of history, five stars is well-warranted.
I have seen reviews calling Dr. Li a “reluctant memoirist”, and while this is undoubtedly true (he admits to only writing the book after promising his wife he’d do so while she was in her deathbed) I believe this actually makes his recollection of events much more believable. If someone is out to make money or to achieve prestige from book sales, they’re naturally going to want to exaggerate or embellish the parts they can, as sensationalism and sex sells.
However, you don’t find this in Dr. Li’s memoir. While some people seem to be disappointed in not getting more information on Mao’s insatiable sex life, I was grateful, honestly, that the doctor was repulsed by it and spared us the most intimate of details. I believe the information he provided was more than adequate to understand Mao, yet didn’t go so far as to border on crude.
I think this gem from p. 363-364 was more than enough to satiate my (relatively minor) appetite:
”With so much sexual activity, venereal disease was practically inevitable…once one of Mao’s partners became infected, he quickly contracted the disease as well, and soon it had spread. He sent the infected women to me for treatment.
The young women were proud to be infected. The illness, transmitted by Mao, was a badge of honor, testimony to their close relationship with the Chairman…
But treating Mao’s women did not solve the problem. Because Mao was the carrier, the epidemic could only be stopped if he received treatment himself. I wanted him to halt all sexual activities until the drugs had done their work.
The Chairman scoffed at my suggestion, saying that doctors always exaggerate things. I explained that he was a carrier of the disease, passing it on to others, even though he himself was experiencing no ill effects. ”If it’s not hurting me,” he said, “then it doesn’t matter. Why are you getting so excited about it?”
…I suggested that he should at least allow himself to be washed and cleaned. Mao still received only nightly rubdowns with hot towels. He never actually bathed. His genitals were never cleaned. But Mao refused to bathe. ”I wash myself inside the bodies of my women,” he retorted.
I was nauseated. Mao’s sexual indulgences, his Daoist delusions, his sullying of so many naive and innocent young women, were almost more than I could bear.”
Does anyone really need to hear more? We know there were orgies after “dance parties” in the great hall (really an excuse for Mao to scope out attractive young peasant women to lure back to his bedchamber). I think your imagination can fill in the rest.
Another issue people seemed to take with Dr. Li was that “in spite of claiming to resentful of petty political squabbles and inner court politics, he certainly spends a lot of time discussing the detailed conversations he either overheard or were told to him.”
Considering how quickly power changed hands in this absurd and intellectually-adversed political climate, it was imperative to know who currently held favor with the Chairman, who was at risk of being scrutinized, and who had lost favor. If one person didn’t like you for some absurd reason (or even just an imagined slight) it could result in a very bad outcome for you and your family if that person were to gain considerable power.
Therefore, considering his very survival was dependent upon this trivial matters, they weren’t so trivial once real-life consequences set in. Obviously, while this isn’t much to be concerned about in a democratic system, these matters hold a lot more significance in a government formed on the basis of absolute power in one individual.
It’s also imperative to keep in mind that he’s not, and never aspired to be, a politician. He came from a long lineage of esteemed doctors, with his great-grandfather once having served the Imperial Court. He desperately wanted to further his career as a physician, eventually working his way into neurology and neurosurgery. It’s only natural that due to his apathy for politics and after twenty-two years of forcibly serving at Mao’s side, he would be reluctant to recall these memories and relive these dismal days.
Imagine being an intelligent, driven physician, and being subjected to hearing arguments and “opinions” on factual matters seemingly coming from six-year-olds, rather than top government leaders and the Chairman himself (although, the majority of the Politburo had a primary school education at best, so I suppose the comparison is fair). I can’t imagine having to hear nonsense such as the following for over two decades:
p. 108: ”Then one day Mao called me into his room. “How many days do you think there are in a year?” he asked. It was another of his unorthodox questions. “Three hundred and sixty-five, of course.” Mao: “Well, for me there are only two hundred days, because I get so little sleep,” he said.
I was puzzled until I realized that he was talking about the number of cycles of waking and sleeping he went through in any given year. “If you count your days by your waking hours, Chairman, you have more than four hundred days in your year. If you look at it this way, your life is like the immortal described in the poem – ‘there are no sun and moon in the hills, a thousand years slip by unnoticed.’”
Mao roared with laughter. “If you are right, then insomnia would be a means to longevity!”
p. 158: ”We floated down the Pearl River for nearly two hours, covering some six or seven miles. Then we took showers and had lunch on board the well-equipped yacht, joined by Jiang Qing, who had been observing our swim from the deck.
Mao was elated as if he’d just won a war. ‘You people told me that Dr. Li said this water was too dirty,’ he said to Luo Ruiqing.
‘Yes,’ I interjected. ‘I saw human waste floating by.’
Mao laughed heartily. ‘If we tried to follow the standards of you physicians, we wouldn’t be able to live. Don’t all living things need air and water and soil? Tell me which of these things is pure? I don’t believe there is any pure air, pure water, pure soil. Everything has some impurities, some dirt. If you put a fish into distilled water, how long do you think it would live?’
I was silent. Mao was clearly not going to accept my views on sanitation.”
p. 177: ”Mao looked at me and shook his head. ‘That’s just doctor talk,’ he said. ‘When rural folk get sick, they do nothing. Even when they are seriously ill, they often don’t see a doctor. Medicine is good for curable diseases, not for incurable ones. Is your medicine really good for everything? Take cancer, for instance. Can a doctor cure cancer? I don’t think so.’
I explained that cancer could be cured in its early stages if it had not metastasized. I argued for the benefits of surgery. ‘But without a checkup, cancer in its early stages cannot be detected,’ I continued.
Mao then asked for some examples.
Most of the top communist leaders were relatively young and healthy then. None of them could serve as an example…Mao smiled. I had just proved his point.”
Also, in Mao’s “opinion”, bronchitis was treatable, pneumonia was fatal. If Mao believed he had contracted something fatal/incurable, it would be impossible to get him to agree to the necessary medications, treatments, or surgeries that really would solve his health issue. So when three physicians determined he had pneumonia, Dr. Li had to find a way around this “problem” they’d unwittingly created:
”Mao’s paranoia was in full bloom, and he suspected a plot. Lin Biao, he was convinced, wanted him dead. Mao’s understanding of medicine had not greatly improved under my tutelage, and he was convinced that pneumonia was inevitably fatal, the result of hopelessly rotten lungs. Mao thought Lin Biao was behind the three doctors who told him he had pneumonia and therefore did not believe them.
Mao did have pneumonia. The X rays left no doubt. But I could not tell him that. If I told him that he had pneumonia, I would be accused of being a member of the Lin Biao-Wang Dongxing clique. So I told him it was his old problem - acute bronchitis, nothing too serious. A few shots of antibiotics and he would be fine.
I consulted with the three doctors, explaining why we could not let Mao know he had pneumonia, trying to assure them that what was most important was to make certain he received appropriate treatment. They agreed, but the director of the Zhongnanhai Clinic was not happy… Mao, though, was delighted when I told him that the doctors now agreed that he had bronchitis rather than pneumonia. He credited me with saving his life and invited me to dinner as his honored guest.”
It was at this point in time that Mao decided he needed Dr. Li around full-time, and given Dr. Li was out in the countryside doing backbreaking manual labor to “learn from the working/poorer classes”, he escaped from that miserable routine while many other men in Mao’s inner political circle did not. He also was able to finally reunite with his wife and two children after nearly a year apart.
Mao was also quite contradictory. He’d tell Dr. Li that “he actually preferred rightists (the ones denounced during the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution as counterrevolutionaries) because “at least they told you how they actually felt, whereas leftists “said one thing while really meaning another.”
Yet anytime Mao would actually pretend to be interested in differing views of top Politburo members, it was merely a ploy to see which ones would criticize the Party, worse, his policies, and worst of all, Mao/any challenge to his one-man leadership status: ”In the next few days, as local leaders and newspaper editors learned of the coming counterattack, newspapers were encouraged to continue publishing criticisms of the party while allowing defenses of the party and attacks against the ‘rightists’ to be published, too.”
This was Mao’s tried and true test of loyalty among his party: ”We want to coax the snakes out of their holes. Then we will strike. My strategy is to let the poisonous weeds grow first and then destroy them one by one. Let them become fertilizer.”
The “lucky” ones whom he felt were just “a bit mixed up” yet still loyal often received job demotions, to be called back into the higher ranked positions they were fired from when he suspected yet another official(s) of plotting to oust him.
The not so lucky ones that Mao saw as irredeemably rightist, power hungry, or disloyal, would be the ones to be shipped off to backbreaking hard labor camps in the countryside. They’d either die out there under such grueling conditions, extreme heat/cold, and malnutrition, Mao’s bodyguards simply “got rid of them” for good, I’m sure.
Li wasn’t always privy to the ultimate fate of colleagues or friends, although some news would sometimes make it back to him (like his close friend committing suicide before he was to be “struggled against”). In my opinion, Li truly did suffer from essentially having served as Mao’s slave - a privileged one with an abundance of food to eat, for certain - but a slave nonetheless.
He was never free to spend a night with his wife and children as Mao kept very odd hours and would send for him at 3 AM, often just to chat about opera, history, or have Dr. Li provide him with English lessons.
However, I’m sure as he saw his colleagues being purged from the party, heard of their suicides, heard of the millions of deaths from starvation outside his sequestered world in Zhongnanhai (the huge palatial complex where Mao, his wife, concubines, and inner circle resided) he likely didn’t feel comfortable complaining about his own position in life.
I believe that and just the overall monotony of his day-to-day life is what contributes to his very detached recollection of the events, though they are still incredibly unbelievable as Mao’s complete disregard for human lives and inability to feel empathy was on display for all of those well-acquainted with him to clearly see.
A must-read if you’re looking to form your own judgment on what made Mao… well, Mao. Sorry the review is so incredibly long! 😂 I’ve been working on making my reviews shorter and more to the point lately, but this was just such a long book and packed with so many good quotes!
Given the fact that there’s never been a more detailed memoir published by a figure with such an intimate relationship to any other dictatorial/totalitarian/authoritarian leader (as the foreword to the book states, Albert Speer knew Hitler well, but their common interests didn’t extend beyond public works and war. Stalin’s daughter rarely saw her father, and diaries written by Hitler’s and Napoleon’s physicians remained solely clinical) Dr. Li Zhisui was able, as author Ross Terrill puts it, to ”turn him into a human being. Here is Mao unveiled: eccentric, demanding, suspicious, unregretful, lascivious, and unfailingly fascinating.” For this intensive piece of history, five stars is well-warranted.
I have seen reviews calling Dr. Li a “reluctant memoirist”, and while this is undoubtedly true (he admits to only writing the book after promising his wife he’d do so while she was in her deathbed) I believe this actually makes his recollection of events much more believable. If someone is out to make money or to achieve prestige from book sales, they’re naturally going to want to exaggerate or embellish the parts they can, as sensationalism and sex sells.
However, you don’t find this in Dr. Li’s memoir. While some people seem to be disappointed in not getting more information on Mao’s insatiable sex life, I was grateful, honestly, that the doctor was repulsed by it and spared us the most intimate of details. I believe the information he provided was more than adequate to understand Mao, yet didn’t go so far as to border on crude.
I think this gem from p. 363-364 was more than enough to satiate my (relatively minor) appetite:
”With so much sexual activity, venereal disease was practically inevitable…once one of Mao’s partners became infected, he quickly contracted the disease as well, and soon it had spread. He sent the infected women to me for treatment.
The young women were proud to be infected. The illness, transmitted by Mao, was a badge of honor, testimony to their close relationship with the Chairman…
But treating Mao’s women did not solve the problem. Because Mao was the carrier, the epidemic could only be stopped if he received treatment himself. I wanted him to halt all sexual activities until the drugs had done their work.
The Chairman scoffed at my suggestion, saying that doctors always exaggerate things. I explained that he was a carrier of the disease, passing it on to others, even though he himself was experiencing no ill effects. ”If it’s not hurting me,” he said, “then it doesn’t matter. Why are you getting so excited about it?”
…I suggested that he should at least allow himself to be washed and cleaned. Mao still received only nightly rubdowns with hot towels. He never actually bathed. His genitals were never cleaned. But Mao refused to bathe. ”I wash myself inside the bodies of my women,” he retorted.
I was nauseated. Mao’s sexual indulgences, his Daoist delusions, his sullying of so many naive and innocent young women, were almost more than I could bear.”
Does anyone really need to hear more? We know there were orgies after “dance parties” in the great hall (really an excuse for Mao to scope out attractive young peasant women to lure back to his bedchamber). I think your imagination can fill in the rest.
Another issue people seemed to take with Dr. Li was that “in spite of claiming to resentful of petty political squabbles and inner court politics, he certainly spends a lot of time discussing the detailed conversations he either overheard or were told to him.”
Considering how quickly power changed hands in this absurd and intellectually-adversed political climate, it was imperative to know who currently held favor with the Chairman, who was at risk of being scrutinized, and who had lost favor. If one person didn’t like you for some absurd reason (or even just an imagined slight) it could result in a very bad outcome for you and your family if that person were to gain considerable power.
Therefore, considering his very survival was dependent upon this trivial matters, they weren’t so trivial once real-life consequences set in. Obviously, while this isn’t much to be concerned about in a democratic system, these matters hold a lot more significance in a government formed on the basis of absolute power in one individual.
It’s also imperative to keep in mind that he’s not, and never aspired to be, a politician. He came from a long lineage of esteemed doctors, with his great-grandfather once having served the Imperial Court. He desperately wanted to further his career as a physician, eventually working his way into neurology and neurosurgery. It’s only natural that due to his apathy for politics and after twenty-two years of forcibly serving at Mao’s side, he would be reluctant to recall these memories and relive these dismal days.
Imagine being an intelligent, driven physician, and being subjected to hearing arguments and “opinions” on factual matters seemingly coming from six-year-olds, rather than top government leaders and the Chairman himself (although, the majority of the Politburo had a primary school education at best, so I suppose the comparison is fair). I can’t imagine having to hear nonsense such as the following for over two decades:
p. 108: ”Then one day Mao called me into his room. “How many days do you think there are in a year?” he asked. It was another of his unorthodox questions. “Three hundred and sixty-five, of course.” Mao: “Well, for me there are only two hundred days, because I get so little sleep,” he said.
I was puzzled until I realized that he was talking about the number of cycles of waking and sleeping he went through in any given year. “If you count your days by your waking hours, Chairman, you have more than four hundred days in your year. If you look at it this way, your life is like the immortal described in the poem – ‘there are no sun and moon in the hills, a thousand years slip by unnoticed.’”
Mao roared with laughter. “If you are right, then insomnia would be a means to longevity!”
p. 158: ”We floated down the Pearl River for nearly two hours, covering some six or seven miles. Then we took showers and had lunch on board the well-equipped yacht, joined by Jiang Qing, who had been observing our swim from the deck.
Mao was elated as if he’d just won a war. ‘You people told me that Dr. Li said this water was too dirty,’ he said to Luo Ruiqing.
‘Yes,’ I interjected. ‘I saw human waste floating by.’
Mao laughed heartily. ‘If we tried to follow the standards of you physicians, we wouldn’t be able to live. Don’t all living things need air and water and soil? Tell me which of these things is pure? I don’t believe there is any pure air, pure water, pure soil. Everything has some impurities, some dirt. If you put a fish into distilled water, how long do you think it would live?’
I was silent. Mao was clearly not going to accept my views on sanitation.”
p. 177: ”Mao looked at me and shook his head. ‘That’s just doctor talk,’ he said. ‘When rural folk get sick, they do nothing. Even when they are seriously ill, they often don’t see a doctor. Medicine is good for curable diseases, not for incurable ones. Is your medicine really good for everything? Take cancer, for instance. Can a doctor cure cancer? I don’t think so.’
I explained that cancer could be cured in its early stages if it had not metastasized. I argued for the benefits of surgery. ‘But without a checkup, cancer in its early stages cannot be detected,’ I continued.
Mao then asked for some examples.
Most of the top communist leaders were relatively young and healthy then. None of them could serve as an example…Mao smiled. I had just proved his point.”
Also, in Mao’s “opinion”, bronchitis was treatable, pneumonia was fatal. If Mao believed he had contracted something fatal/incurable, it would be impossible to get him to agree to the necessary medications, treatments, or surgeries that really would solve his health issue. So when three physicians determined he had pneumonia, Dr. Li had to find a way around this “problem” they’d unwittingly created:
”Mao’s paranoia was in full bloom, and he suspected a plot. Lin Biao, he was convinced, wanted him dead. Mao’s understanding of medicine had not greatly improved under my tutelage, and he was convinced that pneumonia was inevitably fatal, the result of hopelessly rotten lungs. Mao thought Lin Biao was behind the three doctors who told him he had pneumonia and therefore did not believe them.
Mao did have pneumonia. The X rays left no doubt. But I could not tell him that. If I told him that he had pneumonia, I would be accused of being a member of the Lin Biao-Wang Dongxing clique. So I told him it was his old problem - acute bronchitis, nothing too serious. A few shots of antibiotics and he would be fine.
I consulted with the three doctors, explaining why we could not let Mao know he had pneumonia, trying to assure them that what was most important was to make certain he received appropriate treatment. They agreed, but the director of the Zhongnanhai Clinic was not happy… Mao, though, was delighted when I told him that the doctors now agreed that he had bronchitis rather than pneumonia. He credited me with saving his life and invited me to dinner as his honored guest.”
It was at this point in time that Mao decided he needed Dr. Li around full-time, and given Dr. Li was out in the countryside doing backbreaking manual labor to “learn from the working/poorer classes”, he escaped from that miserable routine while many other men in Mao’s inner political circle did not. He also was able to finally reunite with his wife and two children after nearly a year apart.
Mao was also quite contradictory. He’d tell Dr. Li that “he actually preferred rightists (the ones denounced during the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution as counterrevolutionaries) because “at least they told you how they actually felt, whereas leftists “said one thing while really meaning another.”
Yet anytime Mao would actually pretend to be interested in differing views of top Politburo members, it was merely a ploy to see which ones would criticize the Party, worse, his policies, and worst of all, Mao/any challenge to his one-man leadership status: ”In the next few days, as local leaders and newspaper editors learned of the coming counterattack, newspapers were encouraged to continue publishing criticisms of the party while allowing defenses of the party and attacks against the ‘rightists’ to be published, too.”
This was Mao’s tried and true test of loyalty among his party: ”We want to coax the snakes out of their holes. Then we will strike. My strategy is to let the poisonous weeds grow first and then destroy them one by one. Let them become fertilizer.”
The “lucky” ones whom he felt were just “a bit mixed up” yet still loyal often received job demotions, to be called back into the higher ranked positions they were fired from when he suspected yet another official(s) of plotting to oust him.
The not so lucky ones that Mao saw as irredeemably rightist, power hungry, or disloyal, would be the ones to be shipped off to backbreaking hard labor camps in the countryside. They’d either die out there under such grueling conditions, extreme heat/cold, and malnutrition, Mao’s bodyguards simply “got rid of them” for good, I’m sure.
Li wasn’t always privy to the ultimate fate of colleagues or friends, although some news would sometimes make it back to him (like his close friend committing suicide before he was to be “struggled against”). In my opinion, Li truly did suffer from essentially having served as Mao’s slave - a privileged one with an abundance of food to eat, for certain - but a slave nonetheless.
He was never free to spend a night with his wife and children as Mao kept very odd hours and would send for him at 3 AM, often just to chat about opera, history, or have Dr. Li provide him with English lessons.
However, I’m sure as he saw his colleagues being purged from the party, heard of their suicides, heard of the millions of deaths from starvation outside his sequestered world in Zhongnanhai (the huge palatial complex where Mao, his wife, concubines, and inner circle resided) he likely didn’t feel comfortable complaining about his own position in life.
I believe that and just the overall monotony of his day-to-day life is what contributes to his very detached recollection of the events, though they are still incredibly unbelievable as Mao’s complete disregard for human lives and inability to feel empathy was on display for all of those well-acquainted with him to clearly see.
A must-read if you’re looking to form your own judgment on what made Mao… well, Mao. Sorry the review is so incredibly long! 😂 I’ve been working on making my reviews shorter and more to the point lately, but this was just such a long book and packed with so many good quotes!
June 29, 2016
Damn It Feels Good To Be A Dictator!
I liked House of Cards, but I love this book! Breathtaking power struggles filled to the brim.
It would not be a cake walk for a non-Chinese to fully appreciate this book, but it should definitely be no harder to read than the Lord of the Rings. Only the traitors more traitorous and monsters more monstrous. And upon finishing this book, the reader would finally truly fully understand why the Ring, or Power in this book, is so PRECIOUS.
It's easy to take the moral high ground and pass judgement on Mao here, but I think I could easily have done worse had I had held the Ring myself.
I liked House of Cards, but I love this book! Breathtaking power struggles filled to the brim.
It would not be a cake walk for a non-Chinese to fully appreciate this book, but it should definitely be no harder to read than the Lord of the Rings. Only the traitors more traitorous and monsters more monstrous. And upon finishing this book, the reader would finally truly fully understand why the Ring, or Power in this book, is so PRECIOUS.
It's easy to take the moral high ground and pass judgement on Mao here, but I think I could easily have done worse had I had held the Ring myself.
May 28, 2013
This doctor could have had a comfortable and fulfilling life but chose to join the spirit of the new China. He, like so many idealistic youth, went back to China (as some went to Russia after its revolution) to join the "new society" only to be buried in a world created by the revolutionaries in whom they had put their trust.
Dr. Li's suffering was made meaningful in his writing this book. This may be the world's first up close portrait of a national dictator/cult leader. Some of the things that were most striking to me are:
· First, when Dr. Li accompanies Mao to his hometown, Mao tells him how his father, a minor but comfortable landowner, beat him and his brothers so badly that he would run away. Recently I had read how Fidel Castro, was humiliated by living in the workers' homes on the property where his father lived in the "big house" with his legal wife and family. Years ago I had read of Stalin's abuse at the hand of his stepfather. These bright, talented and unwanted sons turned their anger, resentment and hostility on millions of victims.
· Second is that revolutionary warriors had no time for education and their resentment for those that had it ran deep. The facts of the Great Leap Forward imply ignorance, but Dr. Li defines the know-it-all way it got started, grew, got implemented and institutionalized. With science meaningless, Mao's medical treatment was a political decision, and the doctor knew he would suffer when death eventually came.
· Third is the no-win situation everyone was in. The people setting the dynamics had not only the education of third graders, they had the emotional maturity of them too. Slights and unwanted facts create temper tantrums and grudges lethal to the inhabitants of Zhongnanhai and disastrous for China.
· Fourth, was how Dr. Li was expected to know about everything from water quality, to the poisons in food to dentistry and given no opportunities for professional development. When convenient this knowledge was used, but never applauded.
· It's interesting how Mao maintained power even as he lost his eyesight and speech. I'd be interested in some views why/how this happened.
· It's amazing that this book is free of acrimony and sensationalism. For all his troubles Dr. Li was banished to the countryside 3 times and often intentionally separated from his family.
It must have been both painful and cathartic to write this book. I'm curious how his sons got to the US.
This is a must read for anyone interested in 20th century China.
Dr. Li's suffering was made meaningful in his writing this book. This may be the world's first up close portrait of a national dictator/cult leader. Some of the things that were most striking to me are:
· First, when Dr. Li accompanies Mao to his hometown, Mao tells him how his father, a minor but comfortable landowner, beat him and his brothers so badly that he would run away. Recently I had read how Fidel Castro, was humiliated by living in the workers' homes on the property where his father lived in the "big house" with his legal wife and family. Years ago I had read of Stalin's abuse at the hand of his stepfather. These bright, talented and unwanted sons turned their anger, resentment and hostility on millions of victims.
· Second is that revolutionary warriors had no time for education and their resentment for those that had it ran deep. The facts of the Great Leap Forward imply ignorance, but Dr. Li defines the know-it-all way it got started, grew, got implemented and institutionalized. With science meaningless, Mao's medical treatment was a political decision, and the doctor knew he would suffer when death eventually came.
· Third is the no-win situation everyone was in. The people setting the dynamics had not only the education of third graders, they had the emotional maturity of them too. Slights and unwanted facts create temper tantrums and grudges lethal to the inhabitants of Zhongnanhai and disastrous for China.
· Fourth, was how Dr. Li was expected to know about everything from water quality, to the poisons in food to dentistry and given no opportunities for professional development. When convenient this knowledge was used, but never applauded.
· It's interesting how Mao maintained power even as he lost his eyesight and speech. I'd be interested in some views why/how this happened.
· It's amazing that this book is free of acrimony and sensationalism. For all his troubles Dr. Li was banished to the countryside 3 times and often intentionally separated from his family.
It must have been both painful and cathartic to write this book. I'm curious how his sons got to the US.
This is a must read for anyone interested in 20th century China.
May 21, 2020
If Mao were still alive, this book would have cost the author his life. But Mao died in 1976, this book was published in 1994, and the author himself died a year later.
During Mao’s reign an estimated 50 million Chinese perished from persecution, hunger and disease. He was a bad leader in that sense, but is still revered in China (at least officially) for he is considered the founding father of modern China, no matter how much death and suffering he had caused to his own people.
The author was Mao’s personal physician for 22 years. This is a tell-all memoir of his life as such and here he revealed all the vileness of the Chairman, his lust for power, his paranoia, lack of empathy and his general wicked nature. Indeed, Mao’s only virtue, if one may consider it as a virtue, was his ability to acquire and keep power. That was his “greatness.” All the rest belongs to the sewer.
One can indeed already get a hint of what kind of person he was by the fact that his very own personal physician, who enjoyed his favour for man-years, and who was bound by secrecy under the doctor-patient privilege, would write this 600-plus page exposition of things Mao had kept top secret during his lifetime. Things like that he never, EVER, took a bath; that his genitals were never washed; that he never brushed his rotting teeth; and that he was so sexually promiscuous, with preference over young handsome men and women, that he would take them all to bed simultaneously in an orgy.
It was a life well-live, by the standards of dictators.
During Mao’s reign an estimated 50 million Chinese perished from persecution, hunger and disease. He was a bad leader in that sense, but is still revered in China (at least officially) for he is considered the founding father of modern China, no matter how much death and suffering he had caused to his own people.
The author was Mao’s personal physician for 22 years. This is a tell-all memoir of his life as such and here he revealed all the vileness of the Chairman, his lust for power, his paranoia, lack of empathy and his general wicked nature. Indeed, Mao’s only virtue, if one may consider it as a virtue, was his ability to acquire and keep power. That was his “greatness.” All the rest belongs to the sewer.
One can indeed already get a hint of what kind of person he was by the fact that his very own personal physician, who enjoyed his favour for man-years, and who was bound by secrecy under the doctor-patient privilege, would write this 600-plus page exposition of things Mao had kept top secret during his lifetime. Things like that he never, EVER, took a bath; that his genitals were never washed; that he never brushed his rotting teeth; and that he was so sexually promiscuous, with preference over young handsome men and women, that he would take them all to bed simultaneously in an orgy.
It was a life well-live, by the standards of dictators.
August 8, 2014
Interesting read - I'd recommend this.
One anecdote that stood out to me is how when Mao traveled by train during the famine, the local governments moved all the crops in the fields and put them near the train tracks so it seemed like they were having a plentiful harvest. In the process, they basically killed the few crops they had left. Overall, pretty crazy reading about how detached from reality he was.
Also, having your personal doctor write a novel about you must be pretty devastating. Definitely a few TMI moments here.
One anecdote that stood out to me is how when Mao traveled by train during the famine, the local governments moved all the crops in the fields and put them near the train tracks so it seemed like they were having a plentiful harvest. In the process, they basically killed the few crops they had left. Overall, pretty crazy reading about how detached from reality he was.
Also, having your personal doctor write a novel about you must be pretty devastating. Definitely a few TMI moments here.
November 3, 2020
This is a view from somebody who saw Mao all the time and knew his habits. There are many books on Mao that focus on his affect on China's, and even world history, which was profound. But this book shatters the myths. Spoiler alert - even in private, he wasn't a very nice man.
December 5, 2018
Excellent. Well-written. Fascinating.
October 28, 2020
As it was written by an insider, it is the ideal window into Mao's life and personality. While many deride him as the worst dictator ever, most in China view him as the heroic founder of their nation.
While he outwitted both Nationalist leader Jiang Kaishek during the Chinese Civil War, and tricked General MacArthur during the Korean War, he also presided over the Great Leap Forward and promoted a personality cult which started the Cultural Revolution. He started that because he was in a bad mood with the rest of the politburo, therefore it unleashed chaos during which many literally tore each other into pieces. Furthermore, there is a chapter in my book about the effect that it still has on the general population of China.
How could one leader have instituted such policies, which were either clever or disastrous? What was he doing both openly and behind closed doors which made him think of such things?
The Private Life of Chairman Mao describes in fine detail the private life of someone who was previously a complete mystery. My view of him has since been better balanced.
While he outwitted both Nationalist leader Jiang Kaishek during the Chinese Civil War, and tricked General MacArthur during the Korean War, he also presided over the Great Leap Forward and promoted a personality cult which started the Cultural Revolution. He started that because he was in a bad mood with the rest of the politburo, therefore it unleashed chaos during which many literally tore each other into pieces. Furthermore, there is a chapter in my book about the effect that it still has on the general population of China.
How could one leader have instituted such policies, which were either clever or disastrous? What was he doing both openly and behind closed doors which made him think of such things?
The Private Life of Chairman Mao describes in fine detail the private life of someone who was previously a complete mystery. My view of him has since been better balanced.
August 13, 2016
看完了李先生写的书，感觉还不错，还原出一个生性多疑，极其贪恋权力的大独裁者，土皇帝形象，所有处于他身边的人都战战兢兢，因为不知何时灾难就降临在自己头上，这个人也是给中国人以极其沉痛灾难的人，可以说名列千古罪人并不为过，因为很多人说他为革命作出了巨大贡献所以他还是很正面的，我认为他所谓的巨大贡献只是对于共产党人来说是巨大贡献，没有了他的共产党他的中华人民共和国，中国照样是那个伟大的国家，照样可以崛起，可以现代化，不同的是，没有了他，没有了他的共产党，中国会少死很多人，会保留很多文物，会少了很多灾难，会迎来民主与自由而不是一个极权主义的共产党，压迫着广大的中国人民。
Want to read
June 25, 2017綠雞巴
July 21, 2022
The situation at Chairman Mao's court was so tense that this reads like a novel
August 28, 2020
كتاب نسبتأ خوبي براي آشنايي با حزب كمونيست و سياست هايشان كه آثار آن در دنياي امروز هم مشاهده ميشود. كتاب از قول پزشك مائو كه ٢٢ سال در كنار او بوده نقل شده است. لازم به ذكر است كه مترجم كتابي ٧٠٠ صفحه اي رو به چكيده اي ٢٤٠ صفحه اي تبديل كرده كه خب طبيعتأ ساختار همگن كتاب رو از بين برده است. نكته مهم در مورد آن اين است كه اين كتاب خارج از چين و بعد از مرگ مائو به چاپ ميرسد و به همين دليل از تيغ سانسور در امان مانده است. اگر راست گرا باشي طبيعتأ از خوانش اين كتاب لذت بيشتري خواهي برد تا چپ گرا. بخش اصلي روايت كتاب به زندگي شخصي مائو ميپردازد تا اينكه نوع مناسبات هيئت حاكمه را بررسي كند و خصوصأ از نيمه هاي كتاب نگاه سطحي نگرانه تري به خود ميگيرد. شخصأ من از كتاب توقع بيشتري داشتم و انتظار داشتم كه تمام فجايعي كه كمونيسم در دهه ١٩٥٠ تا ٧٠ بر سر مردم كشورش آورده است را موشكافانه تر بررسي كند ولي در مجموع ميتوان گفت كه كتاب نمره قبولي ميگيرد و ارزش يكبار خواندن را دارد.
December 21, 2020
I came to this book looking for a credible, respectable, fly-on-the-wall account of Mao Zedong's life. It ended up only partially meeting one of those three basic criteria; it was neither respectable nor was the source very credible, and for large portions (especially the later years, when Dr. Li had admittedly fallen out of favor with Mao) we did not even get eyewitness accounts.
A bizarre warning comes in the very introduction when Dr. Li, who has just given a thorough explanation of his journaling practices (ostensibly to support the credentials of the ensuing account), then explains how he eventually burned all his notes but still remembers verbatim conversations with Mao almost 20 years later "(b)ecause Mao's language was so colorful and vivid and deeply etched in my brain" and, "My survival and that of my family had always depended on Mao's words; I could not forget them." (p.xvii) My thoughts after reading that passage went something like this: "Oh, okay, that sounds reasonable enou--- waaait a second. . . does that. . . umm. . . yeah. . . so that means he kept notes but didn't use them for this and just relied on his seventy-something year-old memory for events that happened 20-30 years ago?. . .okaaaaayyy. . . that actually sounds like complete bullshit."
Credibility, meet your undoing.
Dr. Li's credibility is further damaged by the way he narrates certain events. His accounts are conspicuous for their absence of meaningful self-criticism. Sure he occasionally says he should have done something differently, but he doesn't ever seem sincere. Here's an example:
The respectability of the proceedings runs into problems when Dr. Li spends an inordinate amount of time speaking of the sexual and physical characteristics of his subjects. On p.100 he needlessly describes how he masturbated Mao, and later on in the book he commits what to me seems a pretty huge transgression when he uses a patient's reaction to physical crisis to comment on his lack of courage. This came across as both unethical and immoral, regardless of whether the then-patient is currently living or not.
Finally, the scope of the book was disappointing in that it was not quite as advertised. A good portion of the book, maybe half, doesn't have to do much with Mao's "private life" at all, but rather deals with the situation in China as a whole and its effect on Dr. Li. Perhaps it could have been more accurately called "The Private Life of Dr. Li Who Occasionally Glimpsed the Private Life of Chairman Mao." Especially in the later years, as I already mentioned, Dr. Li wasn't even really around Mao, so he (somewhat self-consciously, it appears) has to fill up pages with minor details about Politburo factions and in-fighting. He doesn't necessarily seem to be glorifying his role in the proceedings, but a more cynical person than myself might read it that way (I'm told such people exist but have not yet confirmed it). Also, the book gets repetitive and tedious at times.
Overall, I did learn much about Mao the man and his era in Chinese history. I now want to rewatch the movie "To Live" to see again the sumptuous recreation of the Cultural Revolution. I just wish Dr. Li would have kept the focus of the book tighter and maintained more professional discipline in what he chose to divulge. I also wish he wouldn't have passed it off as perfectly-recreated dialogue even after burning his notes, as that just defies belief.
Not Bad Reviews
@pointblaek
A bizarre warning comes in the very introduction when Dr. Li, who has just given a thorough explanation of his journaling practices (ostensibly to support the credentials of the ensuing account), then explains how he eventually burned all his notes but still remembers verbatim conversations with Mao almost 20 years later "(b)ecause Mao's language was so colorful and vivid and deeply etched in my brain" and, "My survival and that of my family had always depended on Mao's words; I could not forget them." (p.xvii) My thoughts after reading that passage went something like this: "Oh, okay, that sounds reasonable enou--- waaait a second. . . does that. . . umm. . . yeah. . . so that means he kept notes but didn't use them for this and just relied on his seventy-something year-old memory for events that happened 20-30 years ago?. . .okaaaaayyy. . . that actually sounds like complete bullshit."
Credibility, meet your undoing.
Dr. Li's credibility is further damaged by the way he narrates certain events. His accounts are conspicuous for their absence of meaningful self-criticism. Sure he occasionally says he should have done something differently, but he doesn't ever seem sincere. Here's an example:
I am grateful that I did not understand Mao at the time, did not know how widespread his purges were, how horribly my fellow intellectuals were suffering, how many people were dying. I had tried to escape from Mao's circle so many times, and always Mao had pulled me back. Now I was trapped, with no hope of leaving. There was much that I could have seen then but did not. What if I really had known clearly what was happening outside my protective cocoon? What if I really had understood the depth and extent of the purges? I could never have accepted it, but I would have been powerless to do anything, either. I would not have been able to leave the circle and I would not have been able to live within it.So to sum up: Excuse, excuse, justification, excuse, rationalization and half-hearted self-criticism. The overwhelming takeaway from a passage such as this is Dr. Li's timidity and conventionality. And of course how much can we really trust the account of such a person? Are we to just assume from the absence in his memoir that he did not actively participate in any of the persecutions, that his actions did not result in the "purging" or condemnation of anyone else? He depicts himself a little too cleanly to really believe. And just from reading the passage above you would never guess that the "so many" escape attempts were really just him asking a superior to transfer him to another post. It's sort of an insult to people who actually were courageous at that time and committed much more drastic actions.
The Chinese have an expression, nande hutu, which means that it is difficult to be muddle-headed -- but lucky. It is an expression reserved for situations like mine. Looking back, I know that I was muddle-headed during those years. I had to be. It was the only way to survive.
The respectability of the proceedings runs into problems when Dr. Li spends an inordinate amount of time speaking of the sexual and physical characteristics of his subjects. On p.100 he needlessly describes how he masturbated Mao, and later on in the book he commits what to me seems a pretty huge transgression when he uses a patient's reaction to physical crisis to comment on his lack of courage. This came across as both unethical and immoral, regardless of whether the then-patient is currently living or not.
Finally, the scope of the book was disappointing in that it was not quite as advertised. A good portion of the book, maybe half, doesn't have to do much with Mao's "private life" at all, but rather deals with the situation in China as a whole and its effect on Dr. Li. Perhaps it could have been more accurately called "The Private Life of Dr. Li Who Occasionally Glimpsed the Private Life of Chairman Mao." Especially in the later years, as I already mentioned, Dr. Li wasn't even really around Mao, so he (somewhat self-consciously, it appears) has to fill up pages with minor details about Politburo factions and in-fighting. He doesn't necessarily seem to be glorifying his role in the proceedings, but a more cynical person than myself might read it that way (I'm told such people exist but have not yet confirmed it). Also, the book gets repetitive and tedious at times.
Overall, I did learn much about Mao the man and his era in Chinese history. I now want to rewatch the movie "To Live" to see again the sumptuous recreation of the Cultural Revolution. I just wish Dr. Li would have kept the focus of the book tighter and maintained more professional discipline in what he chose to divulge. I also wish he wouldn't have passed it off as perfectly-recreated dialogue even after burning his notes, as that just defies belief.
Not Bad Reviews
@pointblaek
July 11, 2018
As the recommendation from jayalalitha (former CM of TN,India) to her doctor, i came to know about this book. Most of the time when i read this book, i can correlate the incident to her life also.
Mao is really a giant himself, whose mood can rejig the the vast nation china. Though he made many mistakes, his way of politics - Keep the balance in second rung leader- always keep them in clash among them self- is greatly helped him to sustain the power for long period.
Mao is really a giant himself, whose mood can rejig the the vast nation china. Though he made many mistakes, his way of politics - Keep the balance in second rung leader- always keep them in clash among them self- is greatly helped him to sustain the power for long period.
November 13, 2019
Was very insightful in the elements of power and ego within a leadership group.
July 7, 2023
کتاب خوبی به عنوان مقدمه و جزئیاتی از زندگی مائو بود البته پرس زمانی زیاد داشت که به نظرم علتش نگارش خاطرات بعد از زمان وقوع بود اما کتاب خوبی بود هرچند خلاصه
August 20, 2017
This is a must-read book for all those who are curious about Mao, China, socialism, communism et al. The myth is revealed in its fullest, most shocking detail. The myth about Mao's greatness and the utopia that has eluded and will continue to elude all those who sincerely believe in the basic tenets of collective governance.
Mao was a monster, a debauch, a hypocrite and filthy even in the literal sense. For example, he never brushed his teeth (which were covered by green and black plaque) and he never bathed (though he sometimes swam).
Here are a few snapshots:
- Once when Mao fell seriously ill, news about it reached Zhou En Lai while he was in the midst of a party meeting. Zhou literally shat in his pants in front of all those senior party members who were attending the conference - he was so fearful of the factional aftermath.
- The same Zhou En Lai was down with multiple cancers and needed urgent surgery but he could not be operated upon because Mao's prior permission was required. and Mao would not permit. He died not much thereafter.
- The "Great Leap Forward" was a massive failure and led to unprecedented cover ups. 30 million peasants died of starvation due to a combination of famine and dogged mismanagement. And when the "emperor" travelled precious paddy plants were uprooted from wherever they could be found and replanted on the barren lands that lined Mao's route!
- To prove the rapid strides that 'industrialization' was taking (as whimsically ordered by Mao), the most ridiculous subterfuge was indulged in. False steel outputs were reported by melting spoons and knives all over the Chinese country-sides (in the back yards of peasants' dwelling places) to 'manufacture' knives and spoons!!
- The 'Cultural Revolution' was used only to banish and kill dissidents whether true or imagined. Its a wonder to me that that no mayhem followed Mao's ultimate death and China did not balkanize, there was so much factionalism and so many swings in power centers.
- The author fled from China to the U.S. immediately after Mao's death - and he wrote this book there. After its release he announced that he had even more to reveal which he planned to do through his second book. But he died soon after reportedly under mysterious circumstances.
The book is longish but quite unputdownable.
Mao was a monster, a debauch, a hypocrite and filthy even in the literal sense. For example, he never brushed his teeth (which were covered by green and black plaque) and he never bathed (though he sometimes swam).
Here are a few snapshots:
- Once when Mao fell seriously ill, news about it reached Zhou En Lai while he was in the midst of a party meeting. Zhou literally shat in his pants in front of all those senior party members who were attending the conference - he was so fearful of the factional aftermath.
- The same Zhou En Lai was down with multiple cancers and needed urgent surgery but he could not be operated upon because Mao's prior permission was required. and Mao would not permit. He died not much thereafter.
- The "Great Leap Forward" was a massive failure and led to unprecedented cover ups. 30 million peasants died of starvation due to a combination of famine and dogged mismanagement. And when the "emperor" travelled precious paddy plants were uprooted from wherever they could be found and replanted on the barren lands that lined Mao's route!
- To prove the rapid strides that 'industrialization' was taking (as whimsically ordered by Mao), the most ridiculous subterfuge was indulged in. False steel outputs were reported by melting spoons and knives all over the Chinese country-sides (in the back yards of peasants' dwelling places) to 'manufacture' knives and spoons!!
- The 'Cultural Revolution' was used only to banish and kill dissidents whether true or imagined. Its a wonder to me that that no mayhem followed Mao's ultimate death and China did not balkanize, there was so much factionalism and so many swings in power centers.
- The author fled from China to the U.S. immediately after Mao's death - and he wrote this book there. After its release he announced that he had even more to reveal which he planned to do through his second book. But he died soon after reportedly under mysterious circumstances.
The book is longish but quite unputdownable.
August 15, 2021
Li Zhisui, the attending physician to Mao for 22 yrs, gives 1st-person account of Mao and the high-level officials in Group One. He gave insight into perhaps one of the most influential person in world history, such as: Mao's personal hygiene (not brushing his teeth/but just rinse his mouth with tea; not bathing); his sexual needs (young women, multiple women); his health (not being treated for STD, traditional vs. Western medicine); his rule of China.
There were times when to determine what /if a medical procedure (eg, type of cataract surgery) should be done on Mao. To do this, they would be tested out on Chinese patients beforehand.
Perhaps Li summarized best when he said, "Even today, the Communist party continues to demand that people attack the innocent. It requires people to pledge public support for polices with which they do not agree. Survival in China, then and now, depends on constantly betraying one's conscience."
There were times when to determine what /if a medical procedure (eg, type of cataract surgery) should be done on Mao. To do this, they would be tested out on Chinese patients beforehand.
Perhaps Li summarized best when he said, "Even today, the Communist party continues to demand that people attack the innocent. It requires people to pledge public support for polices with which they do not agree. Survival in China, then and now, depends on constantly betraying one's conscience."
August 31, 2011
The most memorable part of this biography which I remember to this day are the salacious details of the ballroom dances organized for Mao's benefit with poor innocent country girls, whose parents were only too happy to make whatever contribution they could for the benefit of Chairman Mao. Refusing treatment for his VDs, Li (his personal doctor) would have to prescribe antibiotics to all the girls that he slept with. Who would have thought even someone like Chairman Mao? Pretty sure this one wasn't in the communist party doctrine anywhere.
July 26, 2023
据说一本毛医录拯救一个行业（港台政治秘史类出版物），不愧是让阅读变成get hooked体验的大成之作。权力让人回春（毛/林/江），政治使人变性（周/江）。
February 12, 2024
Well idk why I wanted to know about his sexual life, ew.
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