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A Boy of China: in search of Mao's lost son
Intrigued by stories of a son given away by Mao and his then-wife during the Long March, and mystified by the ‘official' explanation of the boy's fate (Whereabouts unknown - No further information available), Richard Loseby sets out alone across China in search of answers.
Tracing Mao's own revolutionary journey, the author encounters the extraordinary realities of a new revolution, one that is transforming an ancient culture into a modern economic powerhouse.
At the heart of the journey is the hunt for an elusive truth about a brutal and traumatic time in the nation's still raw history. Who was that abandoned boy? Might he still be alive? Would he even want to be found?
The result is an amazing traveller's tale – revealing, poignant, funny, sad and unexpected at every turn. A Boy of China takes the reader on an unforgettable journey that is at once intimate and epic.
Tracing Mao's own revolutionary journey, the author encounters the extraordinary realities of a new revolution, one that is transforming an ancient culture into a modern economic powerhouse.
At the heart of the journey is the hunt for an elusive truth about a brutal and traumatic time in the nation's still raw history. Who was that abandoned boy? Might he still be alive? Would he even want to be found?
The result is an amazing traveller's tale – revealing, poignant, funny, sad and unexpected at every turn. A Boy of China takes the reader on an unforgettable journey that is at once intimate and epic.
301 pages, Paperback
Published May 1, 2016
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About the author
Richard Loseby
5 books48 followersI am a writer and a traveller, and sometimes the two come together in a joyous fusion of words that I have the utmost satisfaction in choosing. I've been fortunate enough to be published worldwide on three of these occasions, most recently with HarperCollins for a book called A Boy of China - the search for Mao's lost son.
For more information contact me on https://www.facebook.com/losebybooks/
For more information contact me on https://www.facebook.com/losebybooks/
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
February 4, 2023
When Mao initiated the Long March in Jiangxi in October 1933, it necessitated moving quickly. The child he had with his third wife He Zizhen was left with local villagers to look after. While Mao moved on, saying not to worry, that He Zizhen would have other children by him, she searched, but was unable to locate him. Mao said he was a boy of China now. The official explanation was 'Whereabouts unknown, no further information available'.
Richard Loseby, in the unlikely location of Thailand hears the story of Little Mao, and is intrigued. As he is at the end of his contract, and against the odds of actually finding anything, he sets off for China to see what he can find.
While heading directly to the last known location of Little Mao may have made for a short story, Loseby, a well travelled author, decides instead to travel the approximate route of the Long March in reverse. After flying into Shanghai he commences his journey in Xining (Qinghai), then travel south to near the border with Tibet through Tibetan Autonomous Prefectures. On the move often, moving with an array of other travellers, Loseby has a knack for fitting in with people, and redevelops his Mandarin, commenting at one point that he can pick up a language if he is using it, but it disappears without use. He travels light, and rough - not shying from the local bus, cheap hotels, or dossing at someones house. He eats at noodle stalls and in markets, all making for colourful anecdotes throughout the book.
In this initial part of his journey he is mixing more with Tibetan people, and non-Han Chinese, and so there is little to be gained by discussing Mao and his lost son. Through Sichuan province, and the various cities he visits before reaching Chengdu he meets various interesting people who are invariably generous and assist him in his travels. Eventually he picks up tidbits of information which send to to people who share the name of others. A student who know a history professor at a University; a bus driver, who knows a journalist, and eventually a retired police officer. His route takes his to Changsa, then to the province of Jiangxi - where the Long March is credited with starting. The towns of Jinggangshan, Yudu and Ruijin feature heavily in concluding the story before Loseby completes his journey to Shanghai.
I won't spoil the roll-out of information, but as I noted above this book is as much (if not more) about the journey as it is the outcome, and the story is compellingly teased throughout.
It is easy reading, and even at 300 pages, very readable in a short time, while offering a fairly detailed overview of Mao, his third wife He Zizhen and the Long March. There is less about the general politics of the time, but enough for the basic background necessary for the context around events.
I have previously enjoyed Loseby's books on his travels in Afghanistan (I should probably re-read those), and enjoyed this equally. Published in 2016, after some delays which are explained in the book, as the travel occurred around 2007.
Whenever I read about Mao I am fascinated to find he only died in 1976; He Zizhen died in 1984. It seems too recent for those events he was involved in to have happened!
4 stars
Richard Loseby, in the unlikely location of Thailand hears the story of Little Mao, and is intrigued. As he is at the end of his contract, and against the odds of actually finding anything, he sets off for China to see what he can find.
While heading directly to the last known location of Little Mao may have made for a short story, Loseby, a well travelled author, decides instead to travel the approximate route of the Long March in reverse. After flying into Shanghai he commences his journey in Xining (Qinghai), then travel south to near the border with Tibet through Tibetan Autonomous Prefectures. On the move often, moving with an array of other travellers, Loseby has a knack for fitting in with people, and redevelops his Mandarin, commenting at one point that he can pick up a language if he is using it, but it disappears without use. He travels light, and rough - not shying from the local bus, cheap hotels, or dossing at someones house. He eats at noodle stalls and in markets, all making for colourful anecdotes throughout the book.
In this initial part of his journey he is mixing more with Tibetan people, and non-Han Chinese, and so there is little to be gained by discussing Mao and his lost son. Through Sichuan province, and the various cities he visits before reaching Chengdu he meets various interesting people who are invariably generous and assist him in his travels. Eventually he picks up tidbits of information which send to to people who share the name of others. A student who know a history professor at a University; a bus driver, who knows a journalist, and eventually a retired police officer. His route takes his to Changsa, then to the province of Jiangxi - where the Long March is credited with starting. The towns of Jinggangshan, Yudu and Ruijin feature heavily in concluding the story before Loseby completes his journey to Shanghai.
I won't spoil the roll-out of information, but as I noted above this book is as much (if not more) about the journey as it is the outcome, and the story is compellingly teased throughout.
It is easy reading, and even at 300 pages, very readable in a short time, while offering a fairly detailed overview of Mao, his third wife He Zizhen and the Long March. There is less about the general politics of the time, but enough for the basic background necessary for the context around events.
I have previously enjoyed Loseby's books on his travels in Afghanistan (I should probably re-read those), and enjoyed this equally. Published in 2016, after some delays which are explained in the book, as the travel occurred around 2007.
Whenever I read about Mao I am fascinated to find he only died in 1976; He Zizhen died in 1984. It seems too recent for those events he was involved in to have happened!
4 stars
May 9, 2016
Loseby lives in Auckland, New Zealand, but has spent a good deal of his life on the move, travelling in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, and European countries as well as China. He has a talent for learning and speaking other languages, and has written two other travel books.
While in China in 1989 he heard the story of how one of Mao Tse Tung’s children was left behind at the beginning of the ‘Long March.’ While this abandonment was no doubt for practical reasons, Mao never made any subsequent attempt to find his child. Such behaviour would be unusual for a Chinese father.
The mystery of what happened to this boy is the backbone of this book, and Loseby’s attempts to find him decades later also allow him to write about modern China and its new and old attitudes, as well as the strangeness of the country itself.
Loseby writes in a somewhat creative non-fiction style: conversations and events can have a scripted feel, and chapters often end on a dramatic note.
His search involves a kind of ‘Long March’ in reverse, and is rewarded with all manner of encounters along the way ˗ and some success at the end. Many of the human interactions are amusing; some are ugly. The intriguing thing for me is that in spite of the Mao’s brutal domination of Chinese life in the 20th century, the Chinese (and Tibetans) continue to practice hospitality in a way that puts many Westerners to shame.
Time and again people Loseby has only just met will pay for his meal, or help him find accommodation. Almost invariably when he looks for a lift from one place to another there’s a passing vehicle (of some kind) to get him there. People ‘adopt’ him and show him around.
His book offers a varied and mind-opening perspective on a country we often only know as dark and dangerous.
While in China in 1989 he heard the story of how one of Mao Tse Tung’s children was left behind at the beginning of the ‘Long March.’ While this abandonment was no doubt for practical reasons, Mao never made any subsequent attempt to find his child. Such behaviour would be unusual for a Chinese father.
The mystery of what happened to this boy is the backbone of this book, and Loseby’s attempts to find him decades later also allow him to write about modern China and its new and old attitudes, as well as the strangeness of the country itself.
Loseby writes in a somewhat creative non-fiction style: conversations and events can have a scripted feel, and chapters often end on a dramatic note.
His search involves a kind of ‘Long March’ in reverse, and is rewarded with all manner of encounters along the way ˗ and some success at the end. Many of the human interactions are amusing; some are ugly. The intriguing thing for me is that in spite of the Mao’s brutal domination of Chinese life in the 20th century, the Chinese (and Tibetans) continue to practice hospitality in a way that puts many Westerners to shame.
Time and again people Loseby has only just met will pay for his meal, or help him find accommodation. Almost invariably when he looks for a lift from one place to another there’s a passing vehicle (of some kind) to get him there. People ‘adopt’ him and show him around.
His book offers a varied and mind-opening perspective on a country we often only know as dark and dangerous.
February 4, 2017
Sometimes a book begs to be told, and this one pleaded for several years before I finally thought it was good enough to send to a publisher. So it's close to my heart, because only I know the sheer hard work that went into making it. So that's 5 stars for effort, 5 stars for not giving up, and 5 stars for the sheer joy of hearing that others like it too.
September 28, 2016
I found this thoroughly enjoyable. I did wonder at the beginning why Loseby was taking the long way round to find Mao's lost son, but his journey through parts of Tibet and the high plateau deserts made perfect sense. Descriptively written without being over the top, he presented places and particularly people, with a careful and honest eye. The hardships a lot of these people had endured by being forced to live under a nonsensical and ruthless ideology were shown without fear or favour.
But the real hero of the story, and the person he really found, was not Mao's son, but the boy's mother. What an extraordinary woman she was. Indeed all the woman on the long march endured horrors beyond belief. I liked that the story kept returning to her and that the last words were for her. A great tale and well written.
But the real hero of the story, and the person he really found, was not Mao's son, but the boy's mother. What an extraordinary woman she was. Indeed all the woman on the long march endured horrors beyond belief. I liked that the story kept returning to her and that the last words were for her. A great tale and well written.
June 3, 2016
An easy and rewarding read. It backs up Jung Chang's account of the long march via a circuitous and at times difficult journey up to the Tibetan Plateau and down again. Loseby has an enviable talent for languages and for striking up friendships which illuminate his journey quite aside from its purpose. The photos are wonderful.
February 16, 2023
This is a Story of China. As the author travels a circuit of China counter-clockwise he unravels the mystery of the Red Army Long March and what happened to Mao's and He Zizhen's (Mao's third wife) two year old abandonded son. Although i got the impression that the book's editor suggested to the author that has travel adventure needed a purpose and he went back and added some bits to seem like there was a mission in his travels. I enjoyed the parts about travelling with Yao Ming, the former basketball star, the fighting cricket companion for a while and setting the goose free (despite what it did to his hotel bathroom). There were many propitious coincidental meet-ups, all the more unlikely in a population of over a billion. It finished with a Hollywood type ending and would make a grand movie with so many narratives coming together. But then the author admits to being a bit of a fibber on a couple of occasions.
November 11, 2020
WOW what a fantastic read. Richard Loseby author of A Boy of China made me believe I was taken on the same journey as Richard as he made China come alive in his writing.
The Long March, for example, is effectively Red China's creation story – a two-year 13,000km trek undertaken by Communism's fledgling founders led by Mao Tse-tung and his 200,000 fighters and followers, while being pursued by Chiang Kai Shek's nationalist army.
Mao forced his wife He Zizhen to abandon their son at the start of the march and, in the chaos of civil war, the whereabouts of "Little Mao" was lost.
Richard also has a great sense of humour too and he made me laugh and also cry at the same time. The photographs within this book are beautiful.
The Long March, for example, is effectively Red China's creation story – a two-year 13,000km trek undertaken by Communism's fledgling founders led by Mao Tse-tung and his 200,000 fighters and followers, while being pursued by Chiang Kai Shek's nationalist army.
Mao forced his wife He Zizhen to abandon their son at the start of the march and, in the chaos of civil war, the whereabouts of "Little Mao" was lost.
Richard also has a great sense of humour too and he made me laugh and also cry at the same time. The photographs within this book are beautiful.
January 4, 2017
I read this book because I have a particular interest in the history of China. Although it didn't add much to my knowledge of the subject, and the story of Mao's lost son didn't amount to much, it is still a thoroughly enjoyable travel book.
February 18, 2017
An enjoyable and interesting trek through modern China, accompanied by the ghosts of the past. With an emotional conclusion, A Boy of China reveals different layers to our understanding of China and the long reach of its history.
December 29, 2023
About the author..
I stumbled across a book .. Blue is the colour of heaven .. bought it..and lo..I got a
Treasure. Bought the sequel.. Looking for the Afghan.. Could not stop to buy this one.. Salute to the Author... Salute...
I stumbled across a book .. Blue is the colour of heaven .. bought it..and lo..I got a
Treasure. Bought the sequel.. Looking for the Afghan.. Could not stop to buy this one.. Salute to the Author... Salute...
March 2, 2017
A wonderful idea. Really enjoyed the journey through this amazing country.
August 28, 2017
Learned more about Chinese 20th century history, Chinese people in china and much more than ever I knew.
March 20, 2017
Don't mean to bash the book but it's probably not the best idea to spend that much time on this story. Found a web post in Chinese that was dated 2007 - that Mr Zhou was likely a son of Mao was well documented then. The author may have felt that he'd discovered some of the most striking and invaluable treasures through many a twist and turn, but it's really just a well known theory - at least in the Chinese world - that can be presented in two short webpages.
April 12, 2017
This fascinating book showed me a window into the real China, remote and completely off the beaten track. The author's narrative of his intrepid journey is intertwined with historical facts about the rise of Mao and the Long March - both entertaining and informative. A very good read.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews