Very few Chinese names have become, as Shakespeare's Henry V put it: «Familiar in his mouth as household words» to many westerners. Mao, Confucius, Yao Ming, Jackie Chan – there aren't many. But that is about to change. China’s in the midst of its once-in-a-decade political power transition. The Chinese “princeling” Xi Jinping seems set to assume the Presidency of China in March 2013. Xi Jinping (pronounced ‘Shee Gin-ping’) will lead China into its most important decade in modern times, and his actions will directly affect the nearly 1.4 billion people in China along with the remaining 6 or so billion non-Chinese on this planet as well. But that’s just half the story. For the first time in modern history, the new President of China will be accompanied by a First Lady who is even more famous than her husband. Peng Liyuan (pronounced ‘Pung Lee-yahn’) has been a household name in China for thirty years. Often known as “the Singing General”, Peng Liyuan is a glamorous and gifted folk singer and operatic soprano as well as being a Major General in the People’s Liberation Army. She is instantly recognizable throughout China and enjoys the adoration of the Chinese people. She is also “the Daughter of the Party” and extremely influential and well-connected regarding politics and the arts in China. Together, Xi Jinping and Peng Liyuan are the new “power couple” on the world stage. The personal, family, and cultural factors that have shaped them set a dramatic backdrop to their stories, for theirs’ is indeed “the story of modern China”.
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Martin Macmillan. TOGETHER THEY HOLD UP THE SKY
TOGETHER THEY HOLD UP THE SKY. The story of China’s Xi Jinping and Peng Liyuan. Martin Macmillan
Dedication
Prologue
Tears Follow Laughter
Years of Chaos
School Daze
The Aftertaste
Seeing the Countryside
Family Reunion
Joining the Party
Dawn in Sight
Hidden Tiger, Crouching Small Dragon
Hong Kong Calling
D-I-V-O-R-C-E, pure H-E double L
Student, Singer, Soldier
Student Life in Beijing
In and Out of Beijing
On the Land of Hope
Waiting in the County
War and Fate
Career Going South?
The White-Haired Girl
China’s Pollution Problem, Not What You Think
Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Her a Match
Separate Lives
To be Upright
The Graduation Concert
The Daughter of the Party
Governor of Fujian
Business Man
Revolutionary Romantic
Land of Fish and Rice
Neglected Star
Paradise Shift
Beijing Calling
Party Academy
Politics and the Artist
Princelings and Princesslings
Postscript
Who’s Who
Bibliography
About the author…
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This book is dedicated to all those who “hold up the sky”.
“Women hold up half the sky.”- Mao Zedong, 1968.
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Perhaps he didn’t. Literally Mao said later that “Xi Zhongxun is a good comrade, how could he be a trouble?” Mao seemed to back-peddle, saying that he was not targeting the Liu biography specifically and that what he had said was just a general statement. Still the suspicion generated in Xi’s direction was allowed to foment. Why didn’t Mao release Xi Zhongxun from all suspicion? Mao never gave an answer up until his death in 1976.
The opportunists took full advantage of this ambiguous situation. Xi Zhongxun was put under suspension from all his official positions and duties despite Mao’s past high praise. He was just forty-nine years old and at the peak of his political career. But this one sentence from Mao was sufficient for him to be placed under house arrest and confined to the Central Party Academy in the west of Beijing. For his part, Xi Zhongxun could do nothing but wait for further resolution.
