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Thirty Years in a Red House
This is the personal account of a man who grew up in China and witnessed tumultuous years of the Cultural Revolution. Born in Nanjing in 1958, Zhu Xiao Di was the son of idealistic, educated parents. His father and uncles joined the Communist movement in the 1930s during the Japanese occupation and were influential underground and military leaders throughout the revolution. Despite their honorable history, they fell into political disfavor by the time of the Cultural Revolution. In 1968, when Zhu was just ten years old, his mother and father were taken to different labor camps for "rehabilitation."
In the face of this injustice, the Zhus struggled to maintain family ties and uphold traditional values. Eventually, the family was reunited and restored to some measure of prominence, and a monument was later erected in Nanjing in honor of Zhu's father, Zhu Qiluan. At the heart of this narrative are the trials of a family caught in the crosscurrents of history--from the early attractions of the Communist revolution to the national disaster that followed and the subsequent odyssey of recovery.
In the face of this injustice, the Zhus struggled to maintain family ties and uphold traditional values. Eventually, the family was reunited and restored to some measure of prominence, and a monument was later erected in Nanjing in honor of Zhu's father, Zhu Qiluan. At the heart of this narrative are the trials of a family caught in the crosscurrents of history--from the early attractions of the Communist revolution to the national disaster that followed and the subsequent odyssey of recovery.
288 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 20, 2014
I wrote the following review many years ago for a now-inactive Asian-American website called Jade Dragon Online (and subsequently I was pleased to get a note from the author, who said I'd understood the point of his book better than any other reviewer):
Emigrants from China have been producing intimate looks of the tumultuous events in their country for several years now. All that I have encountered make worthwhile contributions to the record of modern history.
For example, Jung Chang’s Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China (1991) covers the entire twentieth century by telling the stories of three generations of women in the author's family. Anchee Min’s Katherine (1996) presents a much more focused but fictionalized -- and, in the end, logically flawed -- story. Both inspire a distinct and unambiguous antipathy for China’s government and social system.
In contrast, Thirty Years in a Red House grapples repeatedly with the fact that despite their shortcomings, the government and system were inspired by the highest ideals. The author still has trouble with the notion that Communism itself is unworkable: If only Mao and his inner circle had not made such horribly wrong decisions over a period of many decades, if only mid-level officials had not been corruptible, and if only the masses had not gamely participated in their own victimization, the noble experiment might actually have worked. Millions of earnest souls tried exceptionally hard to make it work.
Judging from the quality of the prose and the depth of insight, it is evident that an enormous amount of effort and passion went into the creation of this account. Zhu tells us he wants "to set the record straight" regarding Western misrepresentation of the Communists. I'm not sure, however, that China's government wants defenders like this. Today, at the fiftieth anniversary of Mao's proclamation of the People's Republic, relations with the West are just about as fragile as they've ever been; and balanced, earnest explorations like this book may offer the best bridge either side is likely to see.
Clearly, Zhu is still very proud of the role his family played in defeating the Nationalists and paving the way for Mao's new government. The "red house" of the title is his own household: Even during his family's obligatory persecution during the Cultural Revolution, he reports, their tormentors admired their thoroughly Communist credentials.
Such irony abounds. Again and again, as his story draws to its conclusion, Zhu recalls his father's youthful goal of creating an egalitarian society and compares it with the highly stratified arrangement that has evolved instead. Abuse of power for personal gain had always been a problem in China. But over time, personal connections became essential for accomplishing anything. If you needed competent medical care, if you wanted to put your children into a decent school, and particularly if you aspired to travel abroad -- special relationships with influential friends were a must.
The overdue death of Mao, the eventual downfall of the government "radicals," and the inevitable opening to positive Western influences ought to have renewed China's long march to its hoped-for destiny. Instead, Zhu mournfully admits that it was still entirely possible for anyone to "become a victim overnight."
When Zhu finally departed for graduate studies in the West, it was with the hope of finding "a medicine for China's disease." Even then his mission was essentially the same as his parents'. But while he was abroad, the supposedly tolerant Deng Xiaoping ordered the Tiananmen massacre, with active participation by former comrades of Zhu's own father (who died very shortly thereafter). On subsequent trips back home, Zhu has found signs of progress that are ambivalent at best.
Perhaps if more citizens were like that father, who is portrayed as a paragon of exceptional probity, the revolution might indeed have produced the intended utopia. On the other hand, if everyone were that wise and selfless, perhaps any system would work.
Emigrants from China have been producing intimate looks of the tumultuous events in their country for several years now. All that I have encountered make worthwhile contributions to the record of modern history.
For example, Jung Chang’s Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China (1991) covers the entire twentieth century by telling the stories of three generations of women in the author's family. Anchee Min’s Katherine (1996) presents a much more focused but fictionalized -- and, in the end, logically flawed -- story. Both inspire a distinct and unambiguous antipathy for China’s government and social system.
In contrast, Thirty Years in a Red House grapples repeatedly with the fact that despite their shortcomings, the government and system were inspired by the highest ideals. The author still has trouble with the notion that Communism itself is unworkable: If only Mao and his inner circle had not made such horribly wrong decisions over a period of many decades, if only mid-level officials had not been corruptible, and if only the masses had not gamely participated in their own victimization, the noble experiment might actually have worked. Millions of earnest souls tried exceptionally hard to make it work.
Judging from the quality of the prose and the depth of insight, it is evident that an enormous amount of effort and passion went into the creation of this account. Zhu tells us he wants "to set the record straight" regarding Western misrepresentation of the Communists. I'm not sure, however, that China's government wants defenders like this. Today, at the fiftieth anniversary of Mao's proclamation of the People's Republic, relations with the West are just about as fragile as they've ever been; and balanced, earnest explorations like this book may offer the best bridge either side is likely to see.
Clearly, Zhu is still very proud of the role his family played in defeating the Nationalists and paving the way for Mao's new government. The "red house" of the title is his own household: Even during his family's obligatory persecution during the Cultural Revolution, he reports, their tormentors admired their thoroughly Communist credentials.
Such irony abounds. Again and again, as his story draws to its conclusion, Zhu recalls his father's youthful goal of creating an egalitarian society and compares it with the highly stratified arrangement that has evolved instead. Abuse of power for personal gain had always been a problem in China. But over time, personal connections became essential for accomplishing anything. If you needed competent medical care, if you wanted to put your children into a decent school, and particularly if you aspired to travel abroad -- special relationships with influential friends were a must.
The overdue death of Mao, the eventual downfall of the government "radicals," and the inevitable opening to positive Western influences ought to have renewed China's long march to its hoped-for destiny. Instead, Zhu mournfully admits that it was still entirely possible for anyone to "become a victim overnight."
When Zhu finally departed for graduate studies in the West, it was with the hope of finding "a medicine for China's disease." Even then his mission was essentially the same as his parents'. But while he was abroad, the supposedly tolerant Deng Xiaoping ordered the Tiananmen massacre, with active participation by former comrades of Zhu's own father (who died very shortly thereafter). On subsequent trips back home, Zhu has found signs of progress that are ambivalent at best.
Perhaps if more citizens were like that father, who is portrayed as a paragon of exceptional probity, the revolution might indeed have produced the intended utopia. On the other hand, if everyone were that wise and selfless, perhaps any system would work.
March 19, 2013
A good read on China. The book is detailed and engaging. BTW,he wrote the book in English
August 17, 2025
This is a really touching and memorable book that I would highly recommend.
This book offers an in depth look at Chinese history during the time of Mao's Cultural Revolution; during the leadership of the "Radicals" (the post-Maoist era, during Hua Guofeng's leadership); the fall of the "Radicals", and The "Gang of Four"; the death of Zhou Enlai; the leadership of Deng Xiaoping; it touches on the 1989 Tiananmen Square Protests and of course, the career and imprisonment of the author's father, Zhu Qilian, a high ranking Communist Official; and also the childhood, and early adulthood of the author, Zhu Xiao Di, himself.
The book is written in such a way that, by the time you have finished it, you feel as if you know the characters in the book really well, and have been in China, during this period.
This book offers an in depth look at Chinese history during the time of Mao's Cultural Revolution; during the leadership of the "Radicals" (the post-Maoist era, during Hua Guofeng's leadership); the fall of the "Radicals", and The "Gang of Four"; the death of Zhou Enlai; the leadership of Deng Xiaoping; it touches on the 1989 Tiananmen Square Protests and of course, the career and imprisonment of the author's father, Zhu Qilian, a high ranking Communist Official; and also the childhood, and early adulthood of the author, Zhu Xiao Di, himself.
The book is written in such a way that, by the time you have finished it, you feel as if you know the characters in the book really well, and have been in China, during this period.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews