Nien Cheng
Encyclopedia
Nien Cheng (born in Beijing
on January 28, 1915; died November 2, 2009 in Washington, D.C.
) was a Chinese
author who recounted her harrowing experiences of the Cultural Revolution
in her memoir Life and Death in Shanghai
. In 1966, she became a target of attack by Red Guards
due to her former management of a foreign firm in Shanghai
, Shell
. Maoist revolutionaries used this fact to claim that Cheng was a British spy in order to strike at Communist Party
moderates for allowing the firm to operate in China after 1949.
Her book documents her account of her imprisonment. Cheng endured six-and-a-half years of squalid and inhumane conditions in prison, while refusing to give any false confession. Cheng used Mao's teachings successfully against her interrogators, frequently turning the tide of the struggle session
s against the interrogators. In 1973 Cheng was eventually paroled under on the basis that her attitude had shown improvement. However, Cheng resisted leaving prison without receiving acknowledgment from her captors that she had been unjustly imprisoned.
Upon release Chen was relocated from her spacious home to two bedrooms on the second floor of a two-story building. Cheng continued her life under constant surveillance, including spying by the family on the first floor. When released from jail, Cheng was told that her daughter, Meiping Cheng , a prominent Shanghai film actress, had committed suicide. After Cheng conducted a discreet investigation, she found that this scenario was impossible, and came to believe that Meiping had been murdered by Maoists after the young woman refused to denounce her mother. The alleged killer of Meiping, a rebel worker named Yongnian Hu, was arrested and given a suspended death sentence by Shanghai authorities in 1980, but Hu was subsequently paroled in 1995.
Chen lived in China until 1980, when the political climate warmed enough for her to apply for a visa to the United States to visit family. She never returned, as she was still a constant target of surveillance by those who wished her ill, first emigrating to Canada, and later to Washington, D.C., where she wrote the autobiography.
Nien Cheng was a longtime friend of Nelson T. Johnson
, the U.S. Ambassador to China and his wife Jane Augusta Washington Thornton Beck Johnson. After moving to Washington, D.C., Cheng traveled extensively and was a frequent speaker on the lecture circuit. Canadian singer Corey Hart recorded an instrumental song based on her memoir in his 1990 album Bang!
Nien Cheng died of renal failure
on November 2, 2009.
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
on January 28, 1915; died November 2, 2009 in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
) was a Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
author who recounted her harrowing experiences 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...
in her memoir Life and Death in Shanghai
Life and Death in Shanghai
Life and Death in Shanghai is an autobiography published in November 1987 by Nien Cheng from exile in the United States which details Cheng's six-year imprisonment during the Cultural Revolution....
. In 1966, she became a target of attack by Red Guards
Red Guards (China)
Red Guards were a mass movement of civilians, mostly students and other young people in the People's Republic of China , who were mobilized by Mao Zedong in 1966 and 1967, during the Cultural Revolution.-Origins:...
due to her former management of a foreign firm in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, Shell
Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...
. Maoist revolutionaries used this fact to claim that Cheng was a British spy in order to strike at Communist Party
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
moderates for allowing the firm to operate in China after 1949.
Her book documents her account of her imprisonment. Cheng endured six-and-a-half years of squalid and inhumane conditions in prison, while refusing to give any false confession. Cheng used Mao's teachings successfully against her interrogators, frequently turning the tide of the struggle session
Struggle Session
A struggle session was a form of public humiliation used by the Communist Party of China to enforce a reign of terror in the Mao Zedong era to shape public opinion and to humiliate, persecute, and/or execute political rivals, so-called class enemies...
s against the interrogators. In 1973 Cheng was eventually paroled under on the basis that her attitude had shown improvement. However, Cheng resisted leaving prison without receiving acknowledgment from her captors that she had been unjustly imprisoned.
Upon release Chen was relocated from her spacious home to two bedrooms on the second floor of a two-story building. Cheng continued her life under constant surveillance, including spying by the family on the first floor. When released from jail, Cheng was told that her daughter, Meiping Cheng , a prominent Shanghai film actress, had committed suicide. After Cheng conducted a discreet investigation, she found that this scenario was impossible, and came to believe that Meiping had been murdered by Maoists after the young woman refused to denounce her mother. The alleged killer of Meiping, a rebel worker named Yongnian Hu, was arrested and given a suspended death sentence by Shanghai authorities in 1980, but Hu was subsequently paroled in 1995.
Chen lived in China until 1980, when the political climate warmed enough for her to apply for a visa to the United States to visit family. She never returned, as she was still a constant target of surveillance by those who wished her ill, first emigrating to Canada, and later to Washington, D.C., where she wrote the autobiography.
Nien Cheng was a longtime friend of Nelson T. Johnson
Nelson T. Johnson
Nelson Trusler Johnson was the United States ambassador to the Republic of China prior to World War II, and to Australia during World War II.-Early life and career:...
, the U.S. Ambassador to China and his wife Jane Augusta Washington Thornton Beck Johnson. After moving to Washington, D.C., Cheng traveled extensively and was a frequent speaker on the lecture circuit. Canadian singer Corey Hart recorded an instrumental song based on her memoir in his 1990 album Bang!
Bang! (Corey Hart album)
Bang! is the fifth album by Corey Hart, released in 1990. It was his last album to chart in the U.S., reaching #134, and generated just one hit single, "A Little Love", which reached #37...
Nien Cheng died of renal failure
Renal failure
Renal failure or kidney failure describes a medical condition in which the kidneys fail to adequately filter toxins and waste products from the blood...
on November 2, 2009.