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Grassroots Commentary: Mao Zedong and the Chinese Cultural Revolution is the first attempt at the grassroots level to analyse Mao’s role in shaping contemporary China. A former engineer working with fundamental materials such as bricks, rocks, sand and cement, Chinese author Yu Songran examines the political and social trauma experienced by his beloved country from a perspective that is considerably different from that of the "experts" approved by authorities.
Having lived under the Chinese Communist Party’s rule for more than 70 years, Yu details more than a dozen political campaigns launched by Mao that were harbingers of the Cultural Revolution, events made historically unforgettable and unforgivable by eight large-scale massacres and countless crimes against humanity that resulted in the loss of millions of lives and four prominent spikes in China’s suicide and attempted suicide rates. Yu further documents decades of power struggle within the CCP and pays tribute to those men and women who, in spite of their ideological loyalty, were brutally sacrificed in order for Mao to maintain his dictatorship.
With the book censored, all relevant archives kept secret, and the author’s presence on- and off-line closely monitored in China, it remains the author’s hope that Grassroots Commentary will be known overseas so that the truth behind the Cultural Revolution can reach Chinese-language readers worldwide.
About the author
Yu Songran was already 84 years old when he completed "Grassroots Commentary: Mao Zedong and the Chinese Cultural Revolution". Not only was he censored for online posts of the book's content, but he was also constantly monitored by Chinese authorities for seeking to publish it in China through traditional channels. Hence he settles on self-publishing overseas, as a way to pay tribute to all who died, suffered and forever impacted by the Chinese Cultural Revolution.
