Becoming Madame Mao

1325 Words6 Pages
Becoming Madame Mao Becoming Madame Mao, is a historical novel written by Anchee Min. This means most of the events discussed in the books actually happened, and all of the characters existed in real life. The point of Min’s novel was not to chronicle China’s history, however. The purpose was to shed some light on the “White-Boned Demon”, as Madame Mao has been referred to. (Houghton Mifflin) The novel tells the untold stories of Jiang Qing, one of Madame Mao’s many names, who was the wife of the famous Chinese Communist leader, Mao Tse-tung. After marrying Mao, she became known as Madame Mao. She is seen as one of the most controversial figures in recent Chinese history, due to her major roles in the Cultural Revolution and in forming the radical group, the "Gang of Four" (Time). In the story Becoming Madame Mao, Min tries to sympathize with her and explain her perspective on Ching's story. The story opens with Yunhe, Ching’s name at a young age, in the year 1919, when she was four. That year is actually considered to be the end of the "Modern Period" in China, which started in 1840 after the Opium War. In 1911, Dr Sun Yat-sen led the Revolution that would overthrow the Qing Dynasty and end 2,000 of feudal monarchy, and is seen as a very significant event in modern Chinese history. Along with the end of the monarchial system, the provisional government for the Republic of China was founded. Ten years later, the Communist party would extend their reach of influence to China, and the Communist party of China (CPC) would be founded, originally to be a study society and business network. Sun Yat-sen passed away after founding the Kuomintang (KMT), the current ruling faction. A coup de etat led by right- wing Chiang Kai-Shek in 1927 puts an unpopular government in power. Kai-Shek ordered that all revolutionaries, specifically Communists, be eliminated, which made
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