Liang Heng
Encyclopedia
Liang Heng (born 1954) is a Chinese writer and scholar.
Heng (Liang was the family name) was born in Changsha, Hunan Province. He led a difficult life as a child, dealing with hardships of the Cultural Revolution
, Party Bureaucracy, and poverty. In 1983, Son of the Revolution, his account of his experiences growing up in communist China
during the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution, was published.
Heng was the sole son born to a reporter and a police bureaucrat. At first he and his two sisters are assured a place in China's communist system - their parents are well placed, and all are fervent believers in Chairman Mao. The Liangs' fortunes turn during the Hundred Flowers Campaign
. At the outset of the campaign, loyal communists were encouraged to find faults in the existing regime, an effort to purify communism. Unfortunately for those involved, the campaign is quickly replaced with an "anti-rightist" campaign leading in an opposite direction of the Hundred Flowers. This new campaign targeted as enemies all who criticized the party in compliance the Hundred Flowers - a group that included Heng's mother, who is banished from her lofty position and sent to a re-education camp. Heng's father reluctantly separated from his now disgraced wife in order to spare his family the "black mark" of having a "rightist" mother. The effort proves wasted, as the family bears the brunt of the nation's growing revolutionary fervor. Heng's father is labeled a counter-revolutionary intellectual, and he himself a "stinking intellectual's son".
Despite the family's hope to stay together, the Cultural Revolution will see them banished to distant corners of China. Heng stayed with his father, who remained a stalwart believer in Mao, even as they (and many like them) were forced to leave their privileged lives as city dwellers to become country peasants. Eventually, the fervor of the cultural revolution leads to outright warfare fought by competing cadres using weapons they didn't understand.
Eventually, the fighting came to an end, leaving the Chinese in an uneasy peace. Rather than revolutionary zeal, an older Heng found a new danger in China's bribery economy. He became a factory worker and then a star basketball player. When China signalled that it would reopen schools, Heng jumped at the chance for a university education.
During his studies at the Hunan Teachers' College in Changsha he met Judith Shapiro, an American teacher. In 1980, they married. Liang emigrated with his wife to the United States
in the early 1980s.
Heng (Liang was the family name) was born in Changsha, Hunan Province. He led a difficult life as a child, dealing with hardships of the Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
, Party Bureaucracy, and poverty. In 1983, Son of the Revolution, his account of his experiences growing up in communist China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
during the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution, was published.
Heng was the sole son born to a reporter and a police bureaucrat. At first he and his two sisters are assured a place in China's communist system - their parents are well placed, and all are fervent believers in Chairman Mao. The Liangs' fortunes turn during the Hundred Flowers Campaign
Hundred Flowers Campaign
The Hundred Flowers Campaign, also termed the Hundred Flowers Movement, refers mainly to a brief six weeks in the People's Republic of China in the early summer of 1957 during which the Communist Party of China encouraged a variety of views and solutions to national policy issues, launched...
. At the outset of the campaign, loyal communists were encouraged to find faults in the existing regime, an effort to purify communism. Unfortunately for those involved, the campaign is quickly replaced with an "anti-rightist" campaign leading in an opposite direction of the Hundred Flowers. This new campaign targeted as enemies all who criticized the party in compliance the Hundred Flowers - a group that included Heng's mother, who is banished from her lofty position and sent to a re-education camp. Heng's father reluctantly separated from his now disgraced wife in order to spare his family the "black mark" of having a "rightist" mother. The effort proves wasted, as the family bears the brunt of the nation's growing revolutionary fervor. Heng's father is labeled a counter-revolutionary intellectual, and he himself a "stinking intellectual's son".
Despite the family's hope to stay together, the Cultural Revolution will see them banished to distant corners of China. Heng stayed with his father, who remained a stalwart believer in Mao, even as they (and many like them) were forced to leave their privileged lives as city dwellers to become country peasants. Eventually, the fervor of the cultural revolution leads to outright warfare fought by competing cadres using weapons they didn't understand.
Eventually, the fighting came to an end, leaving the Chinese in an uneasy peace. Rather than revolutionary zeal, an older Heng found a new danger in China's bribery economy. He became a factory worker and then a star basketball player. When China signalled that it would reopen schools, Heng jumped at the chance for a university education.
During his studies at the Hunan Teachers' College in Changsha he met Judith Shapiro, an American teacher. In 1980, they married. Liang emigrated with his wife to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the early 1980s.