phlegm and saliva: Ibid., 215.
classic European composers: Ibid.
Even the hillsides of China: Anthony Grey, “Hostage in Peking,” Reader’s Digest, January 1971.
the crowd seemed to respond: Jojima, Ogi, 216.
you had to go along with it: Author interview with Qi Da Zheng, November 8, 2011.
they tied Mao slogans to their table tennis nets: Shih Pen-shan (as told to Lester Velie), “I Fought in Red China’s Sports War,” Reader’s Digest, June 1967.
You may be able to help me now: Jojima, Ogi, 217.
Ogi sat silently thinking: Ogimura, Ichiro Ogimura in Legend, 171.
Chapter 29 | Under Pressure
Soldiers wept as the Chairman: Heng and Shapiro, Son of the Revolution, 123–24.
high jumpers held up the Little Red Book: Shih Pen-shan (as told to Lester Velie), “I Fought in Red China’s Sports War,” Reader’s Digest, June 1967.
I followed the Red Guards: Author interview with Liang Geliang, May 5, 2011.
The local doctor had diagnosed her: Ibid.
forced themselves into Zhuang’s house: Ibid.
they busied themselves writing: Ibid.
pointed interest in who: Yan and Gao, Turbulent Decade, 262.
Chapter 30 | House of Cards
Jiang called He Long a traitor: Suyin, Phoenix Harvest, 74.
more than 1000 confidential documents: Salisbury, Long March, 331.
beaten regularly: Suyin, Phoenix Harvest, 68.
a sure process of medical murder: Salisbury, Long March, 331.
ignorant children: Suyin, Phoenix Harvest, 81.
why don’t you go and fight: Suyin, Eldest Son, 345.
Dealt with as counterrevolutionary: Ibid., 336.
The necklace was a personal touch: Chang and Halliday, Mao, 551.
he suffered a minor heart attack: Wenqian, Zhou Enlai, 175.
were rumored to have defecated: William Cunningham interview with William Brown, William J. Cunningham Papers.
led by an aging Zhu De: Yuan, Born Red, 194.
who had dared to declare himself: Salisbury, Long March, 336.
sports system was suddenly accused: Zhiyi, Champion’s Dignity, chap. 8.
dragged their Ping-Pong tables: Author interview with Qing Jiang, May 3, 2011.
was made to stand up: Author interview with Zheng Minzhi, November 10, 2011.
Every now and then we’d be ordered: Author interview with Xi Enting, May 6, 2011.
Chapter 31 | Death to the Doubters
I felt like a piece of bamboo: Author interview with Xi Enting, May 6, 2011.
The more honor you’d brought: Author interview with Dong Jinxia, May 5, 2011.
the position of a swimmer: Anthony Grey, “Hostage in Peking,” Reader’s Digest, January 1971.
to collude with the enemy: Ti Chiang Hua, “In Peking: A Sports Horror,” Emily Wang, translator, Free China Review, January 1, 1986.
yin-yang head: Xi Enting, interview.
When you’re in the truck: Ibid.
hung over a tree branch: Jicai, Ten Years of Madness, 7.
duck swims on dry land: Ibid., 183.
Beaten by teammates: Yan and Gao, Turbulent Decade, 263.
humiliated and slapped: Author interview with Liang Youneng, November 7, 2011.
emblazoned with a Japanese flag: Yan and Gao, Turbulent Decade, 262.
Though she was only thirty-five: Jinxia, Women, Sport and Society in Modern China, 76.
Rong Guotuan is dying: Author interview with Qiu Zhonghui, May 4, 2011.
I checked his neck: Ibid.
I am not a spy: Yan and Gao, Turbulent Decade, 263.
I felt miserable: “Cultural Revolution Villain or Victim? Zhuang Pleads His Case Forty Years On,” The Times (London), February 17, 2007.
Katz had been arrested: Miles, Dangerous Otto Katz, 9.
We’ll bury you: Ibid., 16.
Katz had been jailed: Ibid., 18.
on all points of indictment: Ibid., 303.
the longest ever handed down: “42 Year Sentence—Longest Ever Known in Britain,” Daily Worker, May 4, 1961.
a breach of hospitality: “March Row,” Daily Express, July 13, 1962.
the game with the little white ball: Quoted in Table Tennis, April 1966. Originally published in German in Deutscher Tischtennis Sport.
Chapter 32 | Down to the Country
could influence many people: Hong and Weikang, Apocalypse of Pingpong.
promoting revisionist policy: Jarvie, Hwang, and Brennan, Sports, Revolution and the Beijing Olympics, 88.
the right hand grasped: Hong and Weikang, Apocalypse of Pingpong.
They ended up in Shanxi: Author interview with Wang Ding Hua, November 8, 2011.
art of the grenade toss: “Athletes in the Countryside,” China Reconstructs, September 1971.
In truth, they depended: Chen, One in a Billion, 81.
a table tennis net from straw and leaves: Author interview with Zheng Mingzhi, November 2011.
she vomited at his feet: Ti Chiang Hua, “In Peking: A Sports Horror,” Emily Wang, translator, Free China Review, January 1, 1986.
Chapter 33 | The World at War
Thanks to new satellite televison technology: Smith, Moondust, 177.
peaceful coexistence: “Peaceful coexistence” was a loaded term in China, an echo of Soviet terminology and Zhou Enlai’s speech in 1955 in which he’d tried to construct a separate space for countries to cohere around China away from the US and Russia. To use it in reaching out to America was a further slap in the face to the Soviets.
would shout insults: Tyler, Great Wall, 48.
It was a calculated attack: Ibid., 48–50.
the smashing of windows: Kissinger, White House Years, 172.
China was everyone’s problem: Ibid.
challenge to Khrushchev’s bid: Zhisui, Private Life of Chairman Mao, 270–71.
exploring rapprochement with the Chinese: Nixon to Kissinger, memo, February 1, 1969.
the whole of China could be underground: Author interview with Seymour Topping, April 27, 2011.
massive nuclear strikes: Tyler, Great Wall, 61.
diplomats seldom venture: Sydney Liu, “Watching Russia’s China Watcher,” Newsweek, July 21, 1969.
We have the Soviet Union to the north: Zhisui, Private Life of Chairman Mao, 514.
the longest continual talks: Kissinger, White House Years, 684.
so compromised electronically: Pratt, China Boys, 58.
Mao ordered two hydrogen bomb tests: Tyler, Great Wall, 73.
the ambassador would come in: Author interview with Winston Lord, December 16, 2011.
China lifted a restriction: Tyler, Great Wall, 81.
In a wide-ranging interview: Snow, Long Revolution, 10.
must be working for the CIA: Zhisui, Private Life of Chairman Mao, 532.
We thought he was a Communist propagandist: Henry Kissinger, speech, 1997, the United Nations, New York, NY, transcript, William J. Cunningham Papers.
nothing to do but wait: Kissinger, White House Years, 704.
We hadn’t heard anything: Lord, interview.
The only mention of table tennis: “Table Tennis Players from Vietnam,” China Reconstructs, February 1971, 43.
fresh from the battlefront: Ibid.
Intrepid Fighters against the US: Ibid.
That same month: Vincent Canby, “Bob Hope, Comedic Master and Entertainer of Troops, Dies at 100,” New York Times, July 28, 2003.
working in woodchip factories: Author interview with Xu Shaofa, May 3, 2011.
Chapter 34 | The Seeds of Peace
target for US bombing raids: Itoh, Origin of Ping-Pong Diplomacy, 49.
Ogi had immediately fired off a telegram: Jojima, Ogi, 228.
This liquor has a high alcohol content: Ibid., 231.
Suppose we were to send a team: Ibid., 232.
immediately banged his head: Ibi
d., 234.
had been sent to their deaths: Ogimura, Ichiro Ogimura in Legend, 172.
suddenly, in January 1971: The invitation was delivered by Ogimura. The two men had never liked each other. Back in 1954, when Ogimura had seized the World Championship in London, Goto had led the team. He’d singled out Ogimura for criticism before they’d left Japan, calling him particularly ungracious and ordering him to practice smiling.
Goto’s second trip to China: Itoh, Origin of Ping-Pong Diplomacy, 46.
On his flight to Beijing: Ibid., 91.
Montagu’s astonishing clout: Evans, Coloured Pins on a Map, 22. Once, during the 1953 World Championships in Bucharest, two English women evaded their chaperones and meandered freely through the streets. They came back to their hotel, where they shared their adventures with the rest of the team. They had seen beggars behind the Iron Curtain. Evans overheard Montagu calling them liars and chastising them for spreading undiplomatic rumors. According to Evans, beggars in Bucharest were imprisoned for the remainder of the championships.
applications have not been received: “They Still Swing a Mean Bat,” Sports Illustrated, April 12, 1971.
the best thing Zhou could do: Though Evans liked to take credit for what was about to happen, a year later he would write in an introduction to Tim Boggan’s self-published Ping-Pong Oddity, “I am convinced that the Chinese did exactly what the Chinese planned to do.”
A group from the Ministry: Author interview with Xu Shaofa, May 3, 2011.
What were they supposed to say: Author interview with Zheng Mingzhi, November 2011.
to prepare for death: Author interview with Wang Ding Hua, November 8, 2011.
We should be prepared to lose: Zhaohui Hong and Yi Sun, “The Butterfly Effect and the Making of Ping-Pong Diplomacy,” Journal of Contemporary China 9, no. 25 (2000): 429–48.
Chapter 35 | Long Hair, Light Heart
We were crew-cut kids: Author interview with Keith Cowan, June 29, 2011.
won the next seventeen: “Move Over, Aunt Mildred—Sandpaper Paddles Are OUT,” Los Angeles Times, July 11, 1971.
His father put a table: Cowan, interview.
on an uneven floor: “Opening Volley,” Sports Illustrated, June 11, 2008.
This small white ball I hit: Tim Boggan, “In Memoriam,” USA Table Tennis, 2004.
It belonged to Cowan’s future mentor: Tim Boggan, Review of “Sizzling Chops,” USATT News, January 15, 2002.
playing poker with men: Yosi Zakarin, Family Pong: A Table Tennis History of the Zakarin Family (1965–1983), http://yzakarin.tripod.com/Family_Pong_Part_1.pdf.
skid row type locations: Chris Faye, “At McGoo’s,” Table Tennis Topics, September–October 1970, 7.
if you’ve got to do swimming: Glenn Cowan, appearance on Dinah’s Place, May 25, 1971.
After high school: “Table Tennis Whiz to Try Outdoor Courts,” Los Angeles Times, July 28, 1966.
died abruptly: “Opening Volley.”
a small florist business: Cowan, interview.
over a hundred trophies: David Davis, “Broken Promise,” Los Angeles Magazine, August 1, 2006.
El Mongol, a not-so-famous wrestler: Boggan, History of US Table Tennis, Vol. VI, 106.
raised her funds at a high school: Author interview with Judy Bochenski, August 9, 2012.
semiretired engineering executive: “Player Almost Ruled Out by His Long Hair,” Los Angeles Times, April 13, 1971.
recognized the derisive tone: Boggan, Ping-Pong Oddity, chap. 1.
there were no expectations: Author interview with Tim Boggan, November 18, 2010.
How the fuck were we going: Ibid.
from the hotel to the Aichi Gymnasium: Boggan, Ping-Pong Oddity.
The Chinese entered: Boggan, interview.
hadn’t provided him: Boggan, History of US Table Tennis, Vol. VI, chap. 10.
reading copies of Ogimura’s books: “Nagoya Worlds,” Table Tennis Topics, May–June 1971.
out of a spaceship: Boggan, interview.
Chapter 36 | Could the Great Wall Crumble?
chosen a decorated air force: Jiang, Small Ball Spins the Big Ball.
rejoin the international family: Author interview with Zheng Minzhi, November 10, 2011.
Among the advance party: Author interview with Liang Youneng, November 7, 2011.
as the team tried to sleep: Author interview with Xi Enting, May 6, 2011.
To ensure their safety: Chuang Tse-Tung, “Friendship First, Competition Second,” China Reconstructs, September 1971.
a handful of Japanese Communists: Once Coach Liang was sure that he saw an anti-China protester being paid at the end of a demonstration: “He had been shouting at us, and then he smiled at me. I didn’t worry so much after that.”
two patriotic films: The plot revolves around a small group of Chinese villagers inspired to fight against the occupying Japanese after witnessing the invaders burn villages to the ground. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunnel_War.
20 million civilians: Clodfelter, Warfare and Armed Conflicts, 956.
We all stood and started: Xi Enting, interview.
Ogimura seemed bemused: Ibid.
The radio commentator: Jiang, Small Ball Spins the Big Ball, chap. 7.
Those that rolled left or right: Peyrefitte, The Chinese, 275.
except for a cartoon: Xi Enting, interview.
was about to step away: Author interview with Liang Geliang, May 5, 2011.
puppets of US imperialism: Boggan, History of US Table Tennis, Vol. VI, chap. 10.
pure strategy, devised a month before: Zhaohui Hong and Yi Sun, “The Butterfly Effect and the Making of Ping-Pong Diplomacy,” Journal of Contemporary China 9, no. 25 (2000): 429–48.
Chapter 37 | A Measured Coincidence
I was invited actually: Glenn Cowan, appearance on Dinah’s Place, May 25, 1971.
It was really weird: Boggan, Ping-Pong Oddity, chap. 5.
I know all this: Ibid.
orders had been strict: Zhaohui Hong and Yi Sun, “The Butterfly Effect and the Making of Ping-Pong Diplomacy,” Journal of Contemporary China 9, no. 25 (2000): 429–48.
the naïve smile on his face: “Opening Volley,” Sports Illustrated, June 11, 2008.
he was willing to go against: Interview with Zhuang Zedong for the US–China International Exchange Program, September 2007, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7VE26-Qs1A.
I went to a warehouse: Ibid.
very carefully graded: Author interview with Herbert Levin, October 12, 2012.
always decided in advance: Little had changed since England’s first mission to Beijing back in 1793. The Englishman Lord McCartney noted how all his men were given the lowliest of gifts—small pieces of cloth. It was worse than he knew: they were actually regifted from a Korean tribute.
increase from three to five times: Guoqi, Olympic Dreams, 131.
the idea had been discarded: Itoh, Origin of Ping-Pong Diplomacy, 141. While it’s a lovely idea, I have found no evidence to support this claim other than its inclusion in Jiang, Small Ball Spins the Big Ball.
gave me a big hug: Zhuang Zedong, “The Small Ball Pushes Forward the Big Ball: Going to Peace Harmoniously,” speech, USC US–China Institute, Los Angeles, CA, September 25, 2007.
one of the most remarkable gifts: Kissinger, White House Years, 709.
Chapter 38 | An Invitation Home
general secretary: Chen, One in a Billion, 116.
Song had previously worked: Jiang, Small Ball Spins the Big Ball, chap. 2.
if he could finagle: Rufford Harrison, interview, November 16, 1977, transcript, Box 19, National Archive on Sino-American Relations, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
iron hand in a velvet glove: Author interview with Rufford Harrison, April 7, 2011.
the pinko-commie bastards: Ibid.
long inured to the Chinese: Graham Steenhoven, interview, transcript, Box 20, National Archive on Sino-American Relations, Un
iversity of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
He’d noted that the quality: Rufford Harrison, “A Meeting Is a Meeting Is a . . . ,” Table Tennis Topics, July–August 1971.
I heard you Chinese people: Jiang, Small Ball Spins the Big Ball.
Song Zhong was really like a spy: Author interview with Qian Jiang, November 3, 2011.
one of their female players: Author interview with Xu Yinsheng, May 4, 2011.
Glad to meet you: Qian Jiang, interview.
only if it was “progressive”: “Ping-Pong Diplomacy,” China through a Lens, July 8, 2004, http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/olympics/100660.htm.
never gambles—without four aces: Snow, Long Revolution, 184.
having taken the pills: Chang and Halliday, Mao, 602–3.
emergency message arrived: According to my interview with Tim Boggan, he had been told by Zhuang Zedong that Mao had called Zhuang Zedong directly.
Considering the fact that: Zhaohui Hong and Yi Sun, “The Butterfly Effect and the Making of Ping-Pong Diplomacy,” Journal of Contemporary China 9, no. 25 (2000): 429–48.
insists the message: Tim Boggan, “Ping-Pong Diplomacy’s Reunion in Beijing,” 2005, http://www.bumpernets.com/store/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=53&Itemid=70-.
At 10:45 AM: Rufford Harrison, interview by William Cunningham, June 14, 1999, transcript, tape 2, 1, William J. Cunningham Papers.
How would you respond: Harrison, interview.
“Don’t worry,” said Song: Harrison, interview, National Archive on Sino-American Relations.
‘everybody-goes-to-China’: Harrison, interview by Cunningham, tape 2, 3.
out shopping with his wife: Ibid., tape 2, 10.
with administrative matters: Steenhoven, interview, National Archive on Sino-American Relations.
he was livid: Harrison, interview by Cunningham, tape 2, 9.
rather horrible people: Harrison, interview.
Chapter 39 | Surprise
the story of the year: Rufford Harrison, interview by William Cunningham, June 14, 1999, transcript, tape 1, 3, William J. Cunningham Papers.
Ping-Pong Diplomacy Page 32