Читать книгу The Dalai Lama’s Little Book of Inner Peace - Далай-лама XIV, Литагент HarperCollins USD, Дуглас Абрамс Арава - Страница 19

During my first visit to China, we were welcomed by the Prime Minister and the Vice President of the Popular Republic, Chou En-lai and Chu Te. Both were very cordial. Two or three days later, if my memory serves me right, I met President Mao for the first time. It was a public meeting. Our hosts were extremely strict about etiquette. Their anxiety was contagious, and soon we were all panicking. However, President Mao himself seemed relaxed and completely at ease. His appearance gave no sign of his intellectual power. And yet, when we shook hands, I sensed that he had tremendous magnetism. Not only was he cordial, but remarkably spontaneous.

We met at least a dozen times. I found him very impressive. Just physically, he was extraordinary. He had a dark complexion, but at the same time his skin was shiny. His hands were equally shiny and I immediately noticed how beautiful they were – perfect fingers, and an exquisite thumb. He was slow in his movements, and slower still in speech. He was sparing of words, and spoke in short sentences, each full of meaning and usually clear and precise. The way he was dressed contrasted with his behavior: all his clothes appeared threadbare. His dress differed from that of the common Chinese people only by being of a slightly different shade of blue. His whole bearing breathed a natural authority, and his very presence imposed respect.

Apart from Mao, I would meet regularly with Chou En-lai and Liu Shao-chi. While Liu was calm and serious, Chou was extremely polite, courteous, and suave; so extremely polite, in fact, as to make one wonder whether he could be trusted. I realized he was very clever and shrewd.