UMass Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press

A Memoir of Childhood and Youth in Communist China

Book Jacket: Thirty Years in a Red House by Zhu Xiao Di

Zhu Xiao Di
Foreword by Ross Terrill

A Choice Outstanding Academic Book

The wrenching saga of a patriotic Communist family in China

This is the personal account of a man who grew up in China and witnessed the 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.

"This is a quietly powerful book about moral survival. Zhu tells the story of his family with immense skill, a nice balance of private and public life, a knowledge of both Chinese and Western literature and culture, and clear, effective writing. Because the book is so reliable and engaging, it would make an excellent text for classroom use."

Ross Terrill, author of Mao and Madame Mao

Zhu Xiao DI came to the United States in 1987 to pursue graduate studies. He is an associate of the Center for Survey Research, University of Massachusetts, Boston.

Autobiography / Asian Studies
288pp., 24 illustrations
LC 97-15886
$40.95s cloth, ISBN 1-55849-112-0
$24.95s paper, ISBN 1-55849-216-X
1998
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