Memoir Historical Investigation for Mao Zedong By Sili Tian
1. Primary Source
This is the “Little Red Book” or “Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse – Tung” It was used to address Mao’s views upon the young people to change their beliefs. I wouldn’t use my reading book for sources, because in my opinion the book “Mao Zedong” is filled with propaganda, which is hatred towards the Chinese revolution and communistic ideas in the twentieth century. This book reflects on Mao’s views of the world, which are very useful primary sources. I would use quotes and text I could use. I could also research some written diaries by the people of that time. Interviewers at that time could also be sources, since they provide info in an outsider’s view.
2. Secondary Source a. Describe the secondary source you are planning to use. I would use my book as the secondary source or an encyclopedia. Internet sources can be used such as Wikipedia since important figures are protected and cannot be edited. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mao_Zedong b. Why did you choose this source, i.e. how is it connected to your book? It contains information about Mao and his lifetime, because it has a lot of written work too. It includes maps, dates, and a lot of information that can be very useful. The work on Wikipedia can’t be edited, because it’s protected information. It is about the main character of the book, so it would be very useful to learn from the site.
3. Summary and Review: Summary: Mao was the Chinese dictator for 30 years. As the series title suggests...it is a wicked history. His father wanted him to farm. Mao was interested in reading and writing poetry. He married at 15. His wife died a year later. He took off for the big city. A professor introduced him to the writings of Karl Marx and as with Stalin, Mao embraced it. His many policies meant the death of many Chinese. The government took what the peasants grew or made and left them to starve. One policy of killing the sparrows because he thought they ate the grain led to an insect population boom. He's the famous and glorious hero for the Long March...
Review: However I would only recommend this book to adults, because they understand the real events of the revolution, so they wouldn’t be bias about sides. I personally think that Mao Zedong was a genius. I don’t judge people by their goals and morals, which in this case, is being a Chinese dictator, and killing tens of thousands of people. I judge people by their ability to reach their goals, which Mao Zedong clearly reached with great success. I believe the information in this book is reliable, and the author’s writing style is very efficient for young students. Each event in Mao’s live is separated into each chapter, so it is organised very well.
b. What are at least 2 reasons why you think someone else would enjoy this memoir?
1. This book is very interesting and actually contains a bit of black humour. The violence in this book overwhelming, but it is also the real side to history. This helps the reader to continue read on, because most people think that history is boring, however it is not true.
2. This book is written in an easy language aimed at elementary students, however the book is written with a lot of bias, which may shape the reader’s understanding of the topic depending on his knowledge on this revolution. It would also be very helpful in research or work if the students need to complete an assignment on history.
Short Story:
It is summer of 2012, Sichuan and the children had become tired of the day, so they settled for bed. Every day at this time, I would tell them bedtime stories of events that I witnessed or been through and today was the time for the “Long March� At the birth of the Chinese revolution, the Red Army was at war with the Kuomintang Nationalists' which was supported by the Americans. They were sure that Communism thoughts would be destroyed. At 1934, The Communists' base in Jiangxi was about to fall. After the failed attempt to stop the Japanese invasion by the Kuomintang Nationalists, they turned their forces against the Communists again. Chang Kai-Shek, the leader of the nationalists was determined to eliminate the Red Army with the support from the U.S.A. Chiang sent nearly one million troops to encircle Jiangxi. The well-equipped Nationalists laid barbed wire, concrete bunkers, trenches and forts around the province. Their plan was to starve the red army to death. Mao Zedong, the leader of the Chinese revolution predicted that this would happen, so he ordered a secret operation. At 5 P.M. on October 16th, 1934, the Communists' 80,000 brave men, thousands of farmers and civilians took whatever they would bring and started their long and cruel journey as the "Long March." The great Red Army spent the next year on a grueling march across western China, fighting off enemy foes as they marched. War after battle,
the surviving force managed to resist domination by the Nationalists. After some time, Mao and the other leaders decided to march north to Shaanxi province. It’s a place where another group of Communists had escaped Chang's forces. Mao led the remains of his army into the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains. The soldiers marched through the narrow mountain passes 14,000 feet in elevation. Temperatures dropped to below zero, and the cold got through their thin summer clothes. "Those who sat down to rest or to relieve themselves froze to death on the spot." Said the Party leader Dong Biwu, he also said "All along the route we kept reaching down to pull men to their feet only to find that they were already dead." The Red Army was like a tree, in autumn with leaves falling off every now and then. After the freezing march through the mountains, they entered a huge swamp in northern Sichuan province. By this time they had nothing but raw grain to eat and almost no good drinking water. When the soldiers marched along a small village, they came rested near it, and that is when I met the army. Not knowing who or why they’re here, but one thing is sure, they were all heroes. I welcomed a Party leader into my house, the town gathered around most of what they could farm to give to the brave soldiers. They told every bit of detail they knew about the March, from the thickness of the ice to how they looked upon different morals. As the soldier sat on the bench, we started to start a conversation with him: I said, “I’m sure the long march crippled your army and it was very hard to navigate through the mountains” trying to start a conversations with him.
He looked at me and said, “I honestly don’t know how to put it into words” as he moved into a more convertible seating position, “However no wind nor rain can damage our spirit with the leadership of Mao” he continued, “He is the red sun in our hearts” I said, “Well, doesn’t look like it was a very pleasant journey” unknowing how he may react His face expression was turning into an unpleasant face and spoke, “It was very harsh, most of us had either died or deserted” I responded “I understand, however I will give you some advice, never stop following our great Mao Zedong, despite harsh and horrors because he is always leading us into the dusk of the new age” I was determined that Mao was our greatest hope and we should embrace it in order to create a better world with his teachings. It was a long talk, the soldiers were now sheltered from rain and breeze, however lice tortured the soldiers and disease crippled the army to its extreme measures. After they passed by, we continued to support the communists, and Mao’s teachings for a better world. After leaving our little town, In October, the remains of the Communists' soldiers finally got into the Communist base at Shaanxi. In about a year they had marched 5,000 miles and fought more than 200 battles. Less than 8,000 troops remained. The rest had deserted or died. As we think back to it, the Long March had been a disaster. But Mao turned it into a good thing. He welcomed an American journalist, Edgar Snow, to Shaanxi. Mao and his fellow Communist leaders told Snow about the glorious journey. Snow related the stories to the rest of the world, making Mao famous and turning the
Long March into a legend. The dead were remembered as survivors and said to be heroes. Shortly after that journey, the party they accused Chiang, the Nationalists' leader for allowing Japan to take over Manchuria and gave Mao the credit for saving the Red Army. After I finished the long and depressing story, Lee my youngest grandson pondered, “Why did the grandpas have to suffer so much in order to create a better world for us?â€? I left him to pursue the answer because it is the ultimate aspect that defines and represents himself‌
Works Cited. Heuston, Kimberley Burton. Mao Zedong. New York: Franklin Watts, 2010. Print. "Mao Zedong Mao Zedong." Mao Zedong ï¼
Heuston, Kimberley —. N.p., n.d. Web.
09 Nov. 2012. http://www.kingstone.com.tw/english/book_page.asp?kmcode=203c109534690 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mao_Zedong.