Confessions: An Innocent Life in Communist China

by Kang Zhengguo, Zhengguo Kang, Susan Wilf (Translator)

"A mesmerizing read…A literary work of high distinction.” ―William Grimes, New York Times This “gripping and poignant memoir” ( New York Times Book Review ) draws us into the intersections of everyday life and Communist power from the first days of “Liberation” in 1949 through the post-Mao era. The son of a professional family, Kang Zhengguo is a free spirit, drawn to literature. In Mao’s China, these innocuous circumstances expose him at age twenty to a fierce struggle session, expulsion from university, and a four-year term of hard labor. So begins his long stay in the prison-camp system. He finally escapes the Chinese gulag by forfeiting his identity: at age twenty-eight he is adopted by an aging bachelor in a peasant village, which enables him to start a new life.

Genres: China, Biography, Memoir, History, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, Asian Literature

480 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Yulia · Rating 4 out of 5]

is it wrong to appreciate a memoir for what one learns about a time and place? i can't say kang zhengghuo was a sympathetic narrator, but then, should i congratulate him for writing so honestly, however coldly, about a loveless marriage? as much as i value my identity and freedom of expression, he does strike me as an unusually selfish egotist. america is his homeland after all. but at least here we can challenge our detractors, so i can't blame his hatred of communism. perhaps i would come off as selfish as he does if i'd been born there. i never had anything to rebel against.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another in-between-a-3-and-a-4. I really valued parts of the book--I was astounded at the author's experiences in China, especially during the Cultural Revolution. His voice is strong and unique and his experiences are incredible--it's hard to believe what a totalitarian government can do in a nation of over a billion people. A terrible travesty. So I'm glad we have this book, documentation of what happens when people decide they have the right to decide what others do, say, and even think. But there were parts of this book that left me cold. I was stunned at the author's continued willingness to risk his entire family and many friends to satisfy his sometimes perverse desire for self-expression. He shouldn't have had to make the choice--but he continually risked the people he seemed to care about. And the much-too-frank chapters on his sexual exploits (including some pretty bad language) were chilling as well. He used people at times the way he blamed others for using him. Still, this is a phenomenal insight into a China few of us will ever see, a place of repression that a cheerful Olympics will never be able to erase or atone for.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of the longest, most detailed set of Chinese memoirs I've read thus far. Much of Kang Zhengguo's story mirrors that of other Chinese citizens who were labelled as landlords or reactionaries, only this book has more meat to it than some others that I've read. It took me much longer to finish than others have.

His family class and his desire to learn (particularly literature and foreign languages) made him a perpetual target for the Communist party. He spent time in labor camps doing jobs of varying difficulty, was run out of school and his town, changed his name, was adopted as an adult by a peasant in the hopes it would make his life a bit easier, and experienced numerous other bizarre and horrifying setbacks even after his exodus to the United States.

Kang's story provides a glimpse into the life that ordinary Chinese led during Mao's leadership of the Communist Party.

[Rob Weir · Rating 5 out of 5]

When it comes to tales of life under communism, narratives of soul-killing repression, the most-read and most-heard ones deal with experiences in the former Soviet Union.  From Arthur Koestler’s fictional "Darkness at Noon" and Solzhenitsyn’s "A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich," to news stories of the repression of scientists like Andrei Sakharov and over-the-top Hollywood treatments in the 1980s, we’re familiar with that genre.

From China, however, we’ve heard far less.  Sire, we have a picture of pre-war China in Pearl S. Buck’s "The Good Earth."  And we have Bertolucci's evocative treatment in the movie "The Last Emperor."  But these are views from the outside.  Where is the view from the inside? Where is a Chinese writer to stand with Solzhenitsyn and Pasternak?

For your consideration, I’d like to suggest Kang Zhengguo’s autobiographical Confessions: An Innocent Life in Communist China as a strong contender.

Read more here: https://www.whynotlibertarianism.com/...

[leonore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Realistic Account

An excellent realistic account of struggles with the communist ideology in China, neither exaggerated nor minimized. I would recommend this book for everyone especially our current political climate where we have lost touch with the reality of history.

[Marianne Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh the misery that a maniacal government of communist followers can bring on to people who just want to live their lives in peace. This was an unpleasant read of a miserable time. My respect to this author for enduring and sharing his story.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wanna be sad?

[Euan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I good writer, an interesting life. Mostly a sad tale, but with an upswing.
Author was so honest about himself, clearly he's done alot of thinking and this wasn't hastily put together

[Karoline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bagus, sayang sekali banyak typo...
mungkin di cetakan berikutnya, diperbaiki.
Pengantar jelas memakai terjemahan Google Translate...

[Nanto]

dibeli karena ingat sama buku Novel Tanpa Nama. Cerita kehidupan pribadi di tengah sebuah sistem sosial yang sangat komunal tentunya menarik. Sejauh mana ekspresi pribadi dapat diterima oleh negara/partai sebagai sesuatu yang sah dan tidak melulu sebuah subversif. Nyatanya kedua penulis buku ini sama-sama mengalami tekanan dan resistensi dari negara/partai. Toh mereka tak bisa dibungkam dan tetap bersuara. :D

Pemutakhiran 13 Mei 09*
Pengantarnya bicara tentang buku ini dalam bahasa aslinya (Mandarin?). Saya cuma manggut-manggut saja, soal beberapa jargon partai yang meresap dalam bahasa keseharian. Soal gaya bahasa Kang dalam menuliskan dan menertawakan semua itu. Saya sekali lagi manggut-manggut saja. Soal konteks gaya penulisan yang berkembang pada saat Revolusi Kebudayaan di RRC. Kembali saya manggut-manggut.

Duh saya jadi mendalami makna "njeh" yang berulang-ulang diucapkan oleh kawan saya yang tidak mengerti bahasa jawa saat diajak ngobrol sama nenek-nenek dalam bahasa Jawa waktu naik bis dari Yogya ke Bantul.

Cerita Kang sendiri cukup mengalir. Sudah bab 5 sejauh ini. Salah satu cerita menarik adalah bagaimana perubahan status sosial keluarganya dari tuan tanah menjadi "orang biasa". Beruntung kakeknya yang mendalami budhisme tidak menjadi korban perubahan sosial yang lazim ditujukan kepada kaum tuan tanah di negeri penganut paham komunisme.

Ada lagi, cerita Kang tentang diari dan arti privasi didalamnya. Di negeri yang menempatkan komunalisme (partai) sebagai sebuah kebenaran, kesadaran Kang akan diari sebagai bentuk ekspresi privat terasa aneh dan mendobrak. Kritiknya terhadap sebuah buku diari prajurit Cina yang diagung-agungkan sebagai model ideal warga negara di Cina. Kang mengkritik buku harian itu karena penulisannya yang terkesan dibuat-buat dan terlalu berkesan ingin diketahui oleh publik. Kehilangan sisi privat yang harusnya ada dalam diri seorang prajurit yang patriotik sekalipun. Apa dia tidak pernah jatuh cinta? Salah satu pertanyaan Kang terhadap tulisan di diari prajurit yang dianjurkan dibaca oleh seluruh orang di RRC oleh Ketua Mao.

Uda dulu ah nambahinnye, mao pulang dulu aye mah...

ntaran malem ditambahin lagi...nyok penonton.....!

*ngigel bari turun panggung*

*Pemutakhiran 20 Mei 2009*

Buku ini mengingatkan saya akan ucapan dari Ranier Maria Rilke, "If your everyday life seems poor, don't blame it; blame yourself; admit to yourself that you are not enough of a poet to call forth its riches; because for the creator there is no poverty and no poor, indifferent place."

Kang begitu mengalir ceritanya. Pun saya tertawa, itu bukan karena Kang melucu dan mencoba melucu tapi ada kesan kemampuan yang luar biasa untuk menertawakan hal yang getir yang dialaminya. Kejeliannya untuk menceritakan peristiwa ringan dengan nada santai yang menjadikan semua bebannya yang berat itu tetap tidak mempengaruhinya dalam mengamati sekelilingnya.

[Recynd · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I can understand this book's critical success, it just didn't light my fire.

PROS:

Accessible
Well-written
Subject/author easy to identify with; multi-dimensional
Great historical era

CONS:

Picking it up took effort


I can see the value...the therapeutic benefits to the author as well as insight into the individual and the culture for the reader...in detailing daily life. I appreciate that. But sometimes my own life is so bogged down with the mundane that I can't bear the thought of re-living another's, and that's where I'm at right now.

My three-star review reflects my current state far more than it reflects the author's experiences or his ability to relate those experiences; I haven't read anyone else's review on Goodreads, but I suspect that this review should be taken with a grain, if at all (I don't assume it'll be read by anyone other than me, frankly...if you ARE reading this, please know that my reviews are much closer to journal entries than a real review).

[C · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting and fairly horrible account of life in China during the cultural revolution. Kang was constantly made to write self-critical and confessional essays, and witnessed ongoing public denouncings and lynchings of friends, neighbours, and family alike. Due to the crazy political climate, even his own family had to denounce him as a thought criminal. Basically the whole society devolved into a paranoid and violent shit show.
Although Kang's main "crime" was keeping personal diaries, for 5 years, he gets transferred from one reeducation/work camp to another, ending up in a village to live and work as a peasant. Even peasants couldn't simply live off the land independently - they also had party cadres monitoring daily progress and assigning "work points".
I think this was a valuable memoir to share, but I enjoyed The Bitter Sea by Charles Li better.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

An great memoir and anthropoloy of Communist China under Mao and beyond. Kang experienced a way of life most people would find almost unbelieveable including: extreme poverty, mind control, corruption, coercive conformity, individual isolation, guilt by association, the constant fear of being imprisioned for the most mundane reasons, the list goes on... Should be mandatory read for all high school students. I will be reading it again.

[Rogerwon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A chilling memoir of Kang growing up in Maoist China, living through The Great Leap Forward and The Cultural Revolution. Kang spirals ever downwards through the class system for his non-conformist attitude. He is punished ever more heavily for every minor infraction deemed reactionary. The despair, helplessness and frustration is palpable through the pages. A very powerful read!

[Meghan]

I'm interested in reading this book not just to learn more about life during the Cultural Revolution in China, but also because this won an award from the Beijing University. So China thinks it's a pretty good book.

[Lois Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Confessions is a true story of a young man who grew up in Communist China and was radically opposed to the Chinese Communist Party. However, his hardships and persecution were caused by his own poor choices. It became kind of frustrating that he never seemed to learn from his experiences.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have not finished this book but I really am finding the book quite interesting. It definately fills me with a strong gratitude for the freedoms and liberties we enjoy in America. Although I am only half-way through the book I would definately recommend this book to others.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished this book, and it's an interesting look at what daily life under the communist regime was like.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-written, insightful memoir on growing up in Communist China.

[Yvonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

An account of the experiences of a young man during the cultural revolution. Definitely a square peg in the round holes of China under Mao.

[Sue]

A memoir of daily life in Communist China under Mao. I read the first 50 pages or so, but it didn't hold a candle to "Wild Swans," imho.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

very interesting and shocking

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super engaging- couldn't put it down.

[MissNYix · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's quite interesting. It's a book you would want to read if you're into reading real life account of a peasant (a life not considered valuable to the society).

[MissNYix · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's quite interesting. It's a book you would want to read if you're into reading real life account of a peasant (a life which was then and probably now, not considered valuable to the society).

[Nini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read it now to understand what is happening in China now.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enlightening account of the communist experience while being written in a personable way that let the reading move along well for me.