The Longbow Papers

There was a Mao Zedong long before he was the Chairman. There was a Mao Zedong long before he was the Great Helmsman. There was a young Mao that left Changsha for Beijing to be with his favorite teacher who had recently become a professor at Peking University. There was a young Mao who couldn't be a student there but got a job in Beida's library at the benevolence of his professor.

There was a young Mao that was not studying Marxism abroad as were so many of his later colleagues in those years surrounding the First World War, before there was a Chinese Communist Party. There was a very young Mao Zedong who fell in love with his professor's beautiful daughter. The beautiful young woman who became Mao's beloved first wife. It happened in this house.

My dear friend, Dr. Russell Leigh Moses, author and longtime New China hand, here in Beijing finishing a book on the uses of power in global politics, took the photograph on one of our weekly strolls through Beijing's central Hutongs.

Forget the old man in the hat--I try to constantly--it's the plaques that tell the tale. I will forever treasure this photograph for any number of mostly illogical reasons. Thanks, Russ.

 

8:04 PM / Editor / permalink    9 comments

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9 Comments:

Joseph, I may be misreading your post, but Mao never did go abroad to study Marxism, unlike fellow revolutionaries and future leaders Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping. Mao stayed behind in China and did not leave until well into his middle ages - I'm not sure off-hand but I think his first trip was to the Soviet Union, after he was already Chairman - and that may have been it for him as far as travel outside of China. He just wasn't all that interested in the rest of the world, apparently...

By  Other Lisa, at 9:39 AM  

Dear Other Lisa,

That was my point, that unlike his later comrades, Mao did not go abroad to study. My sloppy writing is the problem.

Thank you for stopping by and alerting me to the ambiguity.

Joseph

By  Joseph, at 10:15 AM  

Dear Joseph,

I kind of thought that might have been what you meant. Forgive the unnecessary lecture!

Enjoying your site and must add to my links, so i remember to visit more often...

By  Other Lisa, at 2:24 PM  

Dear Other Lisa,

Thank you for the kind words. I am not able to post as much as I would like, but other writing projects prevent it.

Joseph

By  Joseph, at 6:11 PM  

Joseph, I used to work with Russ back in 1999 and would love to tell him about my recent travels in Nanjing. Would you be willing to send this note to him so that we can get in touch? Many thanks, Mike Ryan, mryan911@yahoo.com

By  Anonymous, at 3:26 AM  

Joseph-
I happened upon your site and have been trying to get in touch with Russell Moses. My email address is ericwarner63@hotmail.com. thank you very much for your help.
Eric Warner

By  Eric Warner, at 2:38 PM  

Pro. Russ is my teacher. I am looking for him. can you tell me his contacts? jasonczc@gmail.com

By  Anonymous, at 3:02 PM  

I have passed your message on to Professor Moses.

Joseph Bosco

By  Joseph, at 8:48 AM  

Found on Chinese-Tools.com, Mao Zedong Caricature!

http://www.chinese-tools.com/caricatures/mao-zedong.html

Quite funny!

By  Caricature, at 5:03 PM  

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