In this audio clip taken from their conversation, Jung Chang speaks about the reality of living through those times, her impressions of His Holiness the Dalai Lama (whom she interviewed for Mao), and more.
The ghost of Mao Zedong still haunts the news: White House communications director Anita Dunn recently made the misstep of seeming to praise Mao as a “political philosopher,” the People’s Republic of China has just celebrated its 60th year and it’s no stretch to say that Mao’s specter, at least indirectly, colored President Obama’s decision to not meet with the Dalai Lama on his recent visit to Washington.
But Jung Chang, author of Mao: The Unknown Story (and the bestselling Wild Swans) understands Mao’s legacy better than many, and talks of the devastation that the PRC leader wrought — and the love that held her family together through the Cultural Revolution and other horrors of twentieth-century China — in “Love Was the Root of Our Courage,” a new interview with Shambhala Sun Associate Editor Andrea Miller.
Just click this player to listen: