Anchee Min - Becoming Madame Mao

Over the next six months Mao produces the most famous writings of his life. Among them are Basic Battle Tactics-Thoughts on Guerrilla Warfare and On the Protracted War. Mao's views fascinate and captivate the nation; as a result, the number of Red Army recruits increases dramatically. Enraged, Chiang Kai-shek secretly contacts Adolf Hitler for military advisors and orders the complete elimination of the Communists.

It is at this time that Madame Mao Jiang Ching gives birth to a daughter, Nah. She disappears from the public scene completely. As the new host of the family, she enthusiastically receives the members of Mao's previous families: two sons, Anyin and Anqing, from Mao's marriage to Kai-hui, and a daughter, Ming, from his marriage to Zi-zhen. Jiang Ching spends her days nursing the baby and making clothes and sweaters. Through Kang Sheng she learns that Zi-zhen has secretly returned from Russia with her illness worsened. Mao has arranged for Zi-zhen to live in a private mental hospital in a southern city.

The village tailor comes often to help Jiang Ching with the housework. The tailor brings news and gossip. Jiang Ching learns that her friend Sesame has been killed in a battle near Gan-jiang River. Another name that often surfaces is Fairlynn. Fairlynn has become the star of feminism and liberalism in Yenan. Her novels and essays are widely published and she is idolized by the nation's youth.

Fairlynn is working on a new novel when I knock on her door. I don't know why I've come here. I don't like Fairlynn. I guess I simply have to satisfy my curiosity. She is surprised to see me and greets me delightedly. Holding out her arms, the first thing she says to me is, Look, the mother hen is here!

What's her name? she asks.

Nah. I open my basket to reveal my daughter.

Nah? What do you mean, Nah?

She didn't say, "Don't tell me it's from Tang Nah" but I get the idea.

It is pure coincidence, I explain. My husband doesn't give a damn whom I married in the past. The name comes from Confucius's teaching on behavior. Nah for self-cultivation. It is all Mao's idea.

Welcome to the red base, little soldier! Fairlynn bends to touch Nah, then turns toward me. You look like you are loaded again.

You're nasty, as always, Fairlynn. I smile and sit down. You like to make me feel bad. You know you love to do that to me.

Oh, Lan Ping, you hate me just the same. We already knew that when we met.

Any progress in your personal life, Fairlynn? How old are you anyway?

She lights a cigarette. Thirty-six. I'm too busy.

It's a familiar excuse for those who can't attract. I laugh. Come on, get yourself a husband before it's too late.

A husband? Fairlynn puffs the smoke. I would rather flirt with a chimpanzee!

She throws a half-eaten yam into her mouth. By the way, how does it feel to be Madame Mao?

A dream come true.

Very clever, Miss Lan Ping.

No, Comrade Jiang Ching.

Very well, Comrade Jiang Ching.

The world is yours if you have the talent, Fairlynn. This is what my husband says to me: The street is filled with gold, but not everyone has eyes to see it.

Fairlynn smiles. Good. Get more babies and practice sewing.

You can't stop biting, can you? I think the problem is your Shakespeare hairstyle. I am sure it turns men off. I'll be happy to give you a new haircut.

Lan Ping, you can't make me feel unattractive.

Jiang Ching, please- Jiang as River and Ching as Green. You have no idea how wonderful it is to have children. Look at Nah, she is smiling at you. Come on, girl, go to Aunt Fairlynn.

Oh, it's warm. It's moving like a worm. Look at this fluffy hair. You smell like an overfermented sourdough bread.

Nah starts to lunge at Fairlynn's breast.

Milk time! I laugh.

Fairlynn passes Nah back to me in embarrassment.

Would you like to hear my new novel, Jiang Ching? It's entitled The New Nora. It's about how Nora walks out of house number one and enters house number two.

Leaning on the pillow I ask my husband's opinion of Fairlynn.

I don't take those bookworms too seriously, Mao responds. What do Fairlynn types know? Dictionaries? What is a dictionary but pages of dead words anyway? Can she tell the difference between rice shoots and weeds? What could be easier than being a bookworm? It's harder to learn to be a chef or a butcher. A book has no legs, one can open or close it at any time. A pig has legs that can run and a pig has vocal cords that can wail. The butcher has to catch and slaughter it. The chef has to make the stinky meat taste delicious. These are the real talents. What's Fairlynn? She plays in the school of thoughts only because we let her…

She cuddles under him. Boss, do you think Fairlynn is attractive?

Why do you ask?

Just curious. She's no beauty, is she?

Huh…

Let me tell you a crowd of men are trying to get her attention. They range from generals to soldiers. They fantasize about her as if she were the protagonist in her novel. Little Dragon doesn't even know how to spell, but he recites Fairlynn's poems.

What has been Fairlynn's reaction? Was she interested in our soldiers?

Well, she has said that she doesn't want to enter any house of Torvald's. She calls your men chimpanzees.

That's interesting. Mao's voice is fading.

Have you read her?

I have copies of her books which she sent me. Mao turns over and blows out the candle.

Did you know that Fairlynn hangs out with the local Bolsheviks? Jiang Ching suddenly asks in the dark.

I'm tired. I'll look into the matter after… after… I finish with the Party's convention.

May I take part in the convention?

No answer.

She asks again.

Mao starts snoring.

Beyond the harsh valley of Yenan, the world lurches toward the greatest conflagration of the century. The Nazi-Germans begin to move across Europe. The Japanese fan out over the Pacific. Closer to home, Mao begins his intense competition with Chiang Kai-shek for the ruling power of China.

Jiang Ching celebrates her next four birthdays in the small garden at the mouth of their cave. At thirty-one she has become an expert seamstress and is used to having their living room used as a war headquarters. Once in a while after an important battle is won, Mao sends away his comrades. He takes a day off to spend with the children. More rarely, he escorts his wife to a local performance to see an opera, an orchestra or a troupe of folk singers. Sensing his wife's frustration, he makes his horse available to her.

After only a few lessons from Little Dragon, I am able to ride out by myself. With a little practice, I soon become quite confident. The land surrounding Yenan is perfect for riding, open and rolling. I tie my hair up into a bun and speed the animal. I ride over the hills and along the riverbank. The breeze on my face makes me feel the spring. Smiling into the wind I think to myself, I am a bandit girl! I ride until the horse's nostrils are wide with panting and his sweat has soaked the blanket. And then I dig my heels in for one last gallop.

Madame Mao Jiang Ching is content yet bored at the same time. She is getting tired of her role as a housewife. She realizes that she cannot be satisfied with a house full of children, hens, roosters, goats and vegetables. Her mind needs stimulation. She needs a stage. She begins to exercise her role the way she sees it. She reads documents that pass across Mao's desk. She learns that the United States has entered the war. She learns that Hitler is being pushed out of the Soviet Union and that the Japanese are in retreat. The Chinese Communist Party has expanded and is the largest political group in the world. Her husband has become a household name and a symbol of power and truth.