Spotlight on Books: WFM’S All Time Best: “Life and Death in Shanghai” by Nien Cheng
When Life and Death in Shanghai was published in 1987, it arrived at a pivotal moment in Western understanding of modern China. The Cultural Revolution had ended only eleven years earlier and detailed first hand accounts of its brutality remained rare. Nien Cheng’s memoir immediately distinguished itself through the precision of its prose, the meticulous documentation and the author’s willingness to lay out the facts without sentimentality. Written in elegant English- Cheng had studied at the London School of Economics in the 30’s, the book combined analytical clarity with the emotional power of a deeply personal testimony.
The critical reception was overwhelmingly positive. Reviewers praised Cheng’s remarkable ability to maintain perspective and analytical distance even while recounting her own torture and imprisonment. The New York Times called it “an important historical document.” It became an international bestseller and was translated into multiple languages. The book was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and won the Christopher Award given to works “that affirm the highest values of the human spirit.”
I read Life and Death in Shanghai shortly after its release, and for thirty five years have been recommending it to anyone who will listen. It has earned a place on my All-Time Best Book list not because it is a political memoir- though it certainly documents political events- but because it is the finest account of an individual stonewalling a mad and diabolical regime through intellectual and moral courage. This is a book about freedom and human dignity in the face of anarchy, inhumanity and tyranny. It demonstrates with painful clarity what courage actually looks like- resisting by refusing to lie, refusing to confess invented crimes and refusing to surrender one' s sense of self even when survival seems to demand it.
Ms Cheng was not a political activist or party member. She was a cosmopolitan widow who had worked for Shell Oil. Her culture and refinement is what the Red Guards feared and aimed to destroy in the Cultural Revolution. Her detailed descriptions of her interrogations and imprisonment provided Western readers with an unprecedented window into one of modern history’s most turbulent episodes. The book has deservedly become essential reading in courses on Chinese history, autocracy and human rights. It remains the definitive testimony on the catastrophic and destructive reality of Mao’s Cultural Revolution.
The stated purpose of the Cultural Revolution was to purge capitalist and traditional elements from Chinese society. In reality, it was a calculated political manoeuvre by Mao to reassert his political control after the failures of the Great Leap Forward. Mao’s instrument of destruction was the Red Guards- militant youth organisations composed primarily of students who were given carte blanche to attack the “Four Olds”: old ideas, culture, custom and habits. These young zealots became enforcers of ideological purity and were empowered to denounce and destroy anyone they deemed to be an enemy of the revolution. Teachers were beaten by their students, intellectuals were paraded through the streets wearing dunce caps. Ancient temples were demolished and libraries were burned and irreplaceable cultural treasures were lost forever. Between one and two million Chinese citizens perished in the 10 year campaign.
Into this maelstrom stepped Nien Cheng, a fifty year old widow who lived in a comfortable Shanghai home. Her education, fluency in English and refined tastes made her a perfect target. When the Red Guards invaded her home in 1966, they embarked on a systematic destruction of her past. They smashed her Ming dynasty porcelain against the floor, shredded her books page by page, poured ink over her paintings and demolished her furniture with axes. The violent destruction of goods, property and people was proof of revolutionary commitment. What followed was even more harrowing. Arrested and imprisoned, Cheng faced relentless interrogation sessions designed to extract false confessions. Her captors demanded that she admit to being a spy for imperialists and being an enemy of the people. She denied her guilt and jousted with her captors for six years. Her denial of guilt was deemed to be an admission of guilt because only the guilty refuse to confess. Mao followed the Stalin playbook. She endured solitary confinement, slept on the floor, had no medical care and inadequate food. Isolation was punctuated by brutal interrogation sessions. She resisted and understood that a false confession would not save her- it would destroy her because she would never be able to live with herself again. She defeated the totalitarian playbook- the attempt to break social bonds (her daughter was killed), sleep deprivation, repetitive questioning, being verbally abused and spat upon. She makes clear that one of the most sinister aspects of the Cultural Revolution was the participation of ordinary people- neighbours and colleagues who joined the denunciations and attacks out of fear of becoming targets themselves. Very few profiles in courage.
When Cheng was finally released in 1973, she discovered a transformed society. Trust had been shattered. Friendships had been weaponised and the cultural fabric had been torn apart. Children had denounced parents and students had tortured their professors. Shanghai had been reduced to a landscape of suspicion and fear. She eventually emigrated to the United States and wrote this memoir. She became a permanent exile and has lived a rewarding life in America. She is a true survivor and a brilliant chronicler of the evil men can do. The book is intense and mesmerizing- it is a page turner where every page documents the capacity for human cruelty.
The book is important not just as history but because it raises uncomfortable questions. Was the Cultural Revolution uniquely Chinese or does it reveal darker and universal truths about human nature? The historical evidence suggests the latter. Consider the parallels of the French Revolution’s Terror where ideological purity demanded endless purges and executions. Or the Rwandan Genocide where neighbours murdered neighbours while radio broadcasts urged them on. Or the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, influenced directly by Maoist ideology, who murdered a quarter of their own population in pursuit of revolutionary purity. The track record isn’t good. There are common characteristics in all these episodes: an ideology that divides the world into the pure and impure or us versus them, leaders who license violence, a breakdown of institutional constraints and ordinary people signing up because they have been convinced the cruelty serves a higher purpose. We are starting to get close to home here! The Cultural Revolution teaches that civilisations can collapse, that the veneer of civility is thin.
The long term impact on China has been profound and paradoxical. Many who survived became China’s leaders in the reform era. Deng Xiaoping, who had been purged and humiliated, became Party Chairman and launched China’s economic transformation. Xi Jinping, China’s current supreme ruler, was sent to the countryside as a teenager and watched this father, a senior official, be publicly humiliated. How these formative experiences shaped the attitudes of these leaders is the subject of great debate and beyond the scope of this essay. Our leaders should always remember the Chinese leadership today was permanently impacted by the volatility that they witnessed when they were young. Perhaps, they now view stability as the primary policy goal. The Chinese Communist Party has never fully reckoned with the damage caused by the Cultural Revolution. It has been acknowledged as a “mistake” and “Mao’s error” but detailed public examinations of the era remain dangerous. Books like Cheng’s remain banned and the subject is generally left unexplored in official documents and discourse. Perhaps, they fear too much honesty about the past may raise uncomfortable questions about the present. Cheng’s memoir is a valuable book because it stands as a challenge to this official amnesia. It also affirms something essential about human dignity. In the face of overwhelming pressure to capitulate, she remained unbroken.
As we watch contemporary political movements that trade in division, that wink at violence and that punish non conformity or dissent, Cheng’s testimony remains urgent. It is a warning about society’s vulnerabilities. Mob rule happens again and again because the psychology that enables it- tribalism, self righteousness, intoxication with power and the willingness to destroy rather than build remain constants in human nature. We must recognise these dynamics and resist them. We must preserve our institutional norms and protect our civilizational memory. The strength of this book is that it is both inspirational and a warning. Her story reminds us that courage is not the absence of fear but the refusal to let fear dictate action. Dignity can persist in the face of degradation. Truth matters and one person’s integrity can stand against a regime based on lies. Individual conscience remains a force. This book was a gift and I still review my underlined library copy when the outside world appears to be going mad.
