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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Tale of Chinese dissident a gem

Reviewed by: Geoff Lambert

Posted: 10/18/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

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Denice Chong has written a strong book.

Egg on Mao
The Story of an Ordinary Man Who Defaced an Icon and Unmasked a Dictatorship
By Denise Chong
Random House Canada, 256 pages, $33

Since the death of the Chinese Communist dictator Mao Zedong in 1976, his reputation has been diminished and many dark corners of his regime have been exposed.

Further, something that could not have been anticipated 30 years ago, many Chinese have taken up political dissent.

Perhaps the most famous relatively recent acts of dissent were the student uprisings in Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the spring of 1989, which were countered by the government with brutal repression.

And many will recall the magnificent stance of the man with his shopping bag, standing right in front of army tanks as they rumbled into Tiananmen, refusing to let them pass.

Another inspiring story, taken up at the time by foreign media and the international human rights brigade and updated by an Ottawa author, is that of Lu Decheng, a humble and unpretentious bus mechanic from a small town in Hunan province.

Together with a couple of friends, he journeyed to Beijing in the fateful summer of 1989.

Once installed there, they achieved immortality by tossing a large quantity of ink-filled eggs at the huge portrait of Mao dominating the reviewing stand area, rendering it a right mess.

For this, they received long prison sentences, 16 years in Lu's case (and a notable difference from the treatment accorded graffiti artists in our own dear city).

Why would anyone want to take such a fantastic risk? The three malefactors could have been sentenced to death.

The bulk of this exquisite work is built around Lu, his life, his loves and his emerging philosophy. Chong has twice been nominated for Governor General's awards for non-fiction, both for books on Asian topics. Similar success with Egg on Mao would come as no surprise.

She portrays Lu and his environment in great detail, and some characters in his life seem to leap off the page.

His wife, Wang Qiupen, was the great abiding love of his life. Together they defied the Residents' Committee, which had the power to say "yes" or "no" to plans they had for marriage, family formation and abortion.

Every visitors' day found her at his prison. Even previously sour-faced guards became a little dewy-eyed when they were seen together.

But then she wanted out. The constant stress was wearing her down, and there was someone else. At first, Lu, disposed to do the proper thing, went along. Then he fought back, but unsuccessfully.

So he turned to his prison and its guards in an attempt to improve himself. He taught auto mechanics, was heavily into physical training, and immersed himself in Confucius and his disciples.

His opposition to the regime was the result of its corruption and tyranny. His dislike of Mao was founded in local incidents going back to the civil war.

As the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games approached, human rights advocates pressed harder and harder for the Chinese government to release many of its political prisoners. Lu Decheng was sponsored by a Calgary-based human rights group and he now makes his home in that city.

This is a gem of a book, strong in its treatment of substance, superb in its expression.

Geoff Lambert is a political scientist at St. Paul's College at the University of Manitoba.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 18, 2009 B8

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