Foreigners under Mao [electronic resource] : Western Lives in China, 1949-1976 /
Hooper, Beverly,author.
Hong Kong [China] : Hong Kong University Press,
[2016]
Foreigners Under Mao is a pioneering study of the Western community during the turbulent Mao era. Based largely on personal interviews, memoirs, private letters, and archives, this book 'gives a voice' to the Westerners who lived under Mao. It shows that China was not as closed to Western residents as has often been portrayed. The book examines the lives of six different groups of Westerners: "foreign comrades" who made their home in Mao's China, twenty-two former Korean War POWs who controversially chose China ahead of repatriation, diplomats of Western countries that recognized the People's Republic, the few foreign correspondents permitted to work in China, "foreign experts," and language students. Each of these groups led distinct lives under Mao, while sharing the experience of a highly politicized society and of official measures to isolate them from everyday China.
Specialized.
Description based upon print version of record.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Specialized.
Introduction : Living under Mao -- part I. 'Foreign comrades' -- 1. Into Mao's China -- 2. Identities and roles -- 3. Interactions -- part II. POW ' turncoats' -- 4. Choosing China -- 5. Disenchantment -- part III. Diplomats -- 6. 'The world within' -- 7. Licensed contacts and beyond -- 8. Cold War diplomacy -- part IV. Correspondents -- 9. 'Our life and hard times' -- 10. The web of relationships -- 11. 'Dateline--Peking' -- part V. 'Foreign experts' -- 12. Helping China? -- 13. Personal and political dynamics -- part VI. Students -- 14. Studying, Maoist style -- 15. Breaking down the barriers? -- part VII. The Western community(ies) -- 16. Across divides -- 17. After Mao.
Foreigners Under Mao is a pioneering study of the Western community during the turbulent Mao era. Based largely on personal interviews, memoirs, private letters, and archives, this book 'gives a voice' to the Westerners who lived under Mao. It shows that China was not as closed to Western residents as has often been portrayed. The book examines the lives of six different groups of Westerners: "foreign comrades" who made their home in Mao's China, twenty-two former Korean War POWs who controversially chose China ahead of repatriation, diplomats of Western countries that recognized the People's Republic, the few foreign correspondents permitted to work in China, "foreign experts," and language students. Each of these groups led distinct lives under Mao, while sharing the experience of a highly politicized society and of official measures to isolate them from everyday China.
Description based on print version record.
Visitors, Foreign