Revolution Is Not a Dinner Party

by Ying Chang Compestine

  After Mao’s death, my father became the director of the surgical department and the executive editor of the prestigious Modern China Surgical Journal. He came to the United States in 1990 with my mother, but missed his practice and patients and went back to Wuhan a year later. He worked at the hospital until he died on May 9, 1996, surrounded by his family, patients, friends, and colleagues.

  My mother was a traditional Chinese medicine doctor. During the Cultural Revolution, she was forced to work the night shift as a nurse in the emergency room because she refused to draw a class line and divorce my father.

  I have two brothers. Niu was inspired by one, as well as by a neighbor boy who lived upstairs. My brothers avoided being sent to the countryside for re-education, but were never allowed to attend high school and university. Both were factory workers for many years and still live in Wuhan with their families.

  I started this book shortly after my parents passed away. It was then that I realized how much I miss China—the country I love so deeply.

  Historical Background

  The Communist Party took over China in 1949. The ensuing power struggle among the Communist leaders resulted in Mao Zedong launching the Cultural Revolution in 1966.

  Chairman Mao wanted to destroy the culture of pre-Communist China and to regain power from his opponents. With the help of his wife, Jiang Qing, Mao organized the Red Guard, composed of middle school and high school students. Led by Mao’s followers from the People’s Liberation Army, the Red Guard imprisoned and murdered millions of intellectuals, opposition leaders, and anyone who spoke against Mao’s ideology.

  Mao’s power reached its peak during the middle of the Cultural Revolution. During those years, everyone in China had to carry a little red book and wear Mao-style clothes and buttons bearing his portrait. Radio and loudspeakers broadcasted Mao’s quotations and revolutionary songs. Every home and public building and space was decorated with Mao statues and quotations. China’s economy reeled. Stores were empty and goods rationed.

  Students were encouraged to rebel against teachers and inform on their politically incorrect seniors—including their parents—and act as an ideological militia to ensure the victory of Mao’s massive cleansing of his opponents.

  While the Cultural Revolution officially ended in 1969 and the worst abuses stopped, the politically charged atmosphere continued until Mao’s death on September 9, 1976.

  On October 6, less than a month later, the new chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, Hua Guofeng, ordered the arrest of Jiang Qing and her conspirators, the so-called Gang of Four. Jiang Qing was sentenced to death, later changed to life imprisonment. In 1991, she reportedly committed suicide in jail.

  Today, China is still a Communist country, but perhaps in name only. Even though the government is a powerful dictatorship, in recent years it has instituted many free-market and capitalist-style reforms to the economy. This has led to joint ventures with foreign companies and an enormous increase in the standard of living for millions of people. Goods are no longer rationed; many are now imported from all over the world. After a long slumber, China is awakening and taking its place on the world stage.

  Discussion Questions

  1. The title of this book comes from a passage in Chairman Mao’s Little Red Book:

  “A revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or doing embroidery; it cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gentle, so temperate, kind, courteous, restrained, and magnanimous.”

  Why do you think the author chose to take the title from this passage?

  2. Why do you think Chairman Mao was so easily able to turn neighbors against neighbors during the Cultural Revolution?

  3. Ling’s mother is able to sense early on that things in China are changing (on page 11, Ling notes that her mother has been in a bad mood for almost a year). What early indications does the author give that “danger [is] knocking on doors all over China”?

  4. Why does Ling’s mother disapprove of so much of her behavior? Why do you think Mother seems to Ling “like a proud white rose,” which Ling is “afraid to touch because of [the] thorns”?

  5. A propaganda film is a film produced (often by a government) to convince the viewer of a certain political point or influence the opinions or behavior of people. Midnight Rooster in this book is an example of such a film. What effect did watching this film have on the students at Ling’s school? Why do you think Ling did not react to the film in the same way as her classmates?

  6. What role does food play in the narrative of this book? Why do you think food is so central to the story?

  7. Ling’s understanding of what bourgeois means changes throughout the book. Based on the events of the novel, what did the word mean during China’s Cultural Revolution? Why was it bad for a family to be bourgeois?

  8. Father chose to stay in China—rather than go to America with Dr. Smith—to help build a new China. The rally cry of Comrade Li’s Red Guard is also for a new China. Why are the two groups (people like Ling’s parents and devotees of Chairman Mao) not able to work together to build a new China?

  9. When Ling asks Mother why her family needs to hang so many portraits of Mao in their apartment, Mother explains, “It’s like the incense we burn in the summer to keep the mosquitoes away.” What does she mean?

  10. What does the Golden Gate Bridge represent to Ling and her family?

  11. Mr. Ji, the antirevolutionary writer Ling and Father save, says “dark clouds have concealed the sun for too long” before he leaves their apartment. What does he mean?

  12. What keeps Ling, Mother, and Father from losing hope like Mr. Ji and the baby doctor did?

  13. Why does Father operate on Comrade Sin?

  14. Can you think of a time in America’s history when the political atmosphere was like that during the Cultural Revolution in China? Why do you think people, no matter what country they live in, behave this way?

  For more information about Square Fish books, authors, and illustrators visit

  www.squarefishbooks.com.

  GOFISH

  Questions for the Author

  YING CHANG COMPESTINE

  What did you want to be when you grew up?

  At first an ice cream saleslady, and then a teacher.

  When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?

  After I lost both of my parents to cancer, I realized how much I missed them and China. I found that writing keeps me close to them.

  What’s your first childhood memory?

  My first taste of imported chocolate, when I was five.

  What’s your most embarrassing childhood memory?

  When talking to a boy I had a crush on, I noticed that my toes stuck out of holes in my worn-out shoes.

  What’s your favorite childhood memory?

  Learning English from my father.

  As a young person, who did you look up to most?

  Scarlett O’Hara from Gone with the Wind. I admired her strength and perseverance.

  What was your worst subject in school?

  The Revolutionary History of Communist China.

  What was your best subject in school?

  Literature and writing.

  What was your first job?

  Working as an interpreter for the Seismological Bureau of the Chinese Government.

  How did you celebrate publishing your first book?

  I cooked a nice meal and invited friends over for a dinner party.

  Where do you write your books?

  At home on my computer, by a window overlooking my beautiful garden.

  Where do you find inspiration for your writing?

  Reading and traveling, cooking and eating.

  Which of your characters is most like you?

  Ling in Revolution Is Not a Dinner Party, and Yun in “Tea Eggs” from A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts.

  When you finish a book, who reads it first?

  My family and two of my best friends.


  Are you a morning person or a night owl?

  Night person for sure!

  What’s your idea of the best meal ever?

  One I cook for myself after a long trip.

  Which do you like better: cats or dogs?

  Cats, maybe. Pets were not allowed when I was growing up and I am a little afraid of dogs.

  What do you value most in your friends?

  Honesty, humor, and a positive attitude.

  Where do you go for peace and quiet?

  Walking on the trail near my home.

  What makes you laugh out loud?

  My son’s jokes.

  What’s your favorite song?

  “Red River Valley.”

  Who is your favorite fictional character?

  Scarlett O’Hara from Gone with the Wind.

  What are you most afraid of?

  Getting up early.

  What time of year do you like best?

  Spring.

  What’s your favorite TV show?

  Kitchen Nightmares.

  If you were stranded on a desert island, who would you want for company?

  My family and my close friends.

  If you could travel in time, where would you go?

  To ancient Egypt. I would be an Egyptian queen like Cleopatra, but with a happy ending.

  What’s the best advice you have ever received about writing?

  Make every word count. Treat each one as if it was a precious pearl. Don’t write a single note, but a symphony.

  What do you want readers to remember about your books?

  The memorable characters, engaging plot, and surprise ending.

  What would you do if you ever stopped writing?

  Play badminton at my club every day.

  What do you like best about yourself?

  How I raised my son.

  What is your worst habit?

  Checking my e-mail too often.

  What do you consider to be your greatest accomplishment?

  Writing and publishing Revolution. It took me over six years to complete.

  Where in the world do you feel most at home?

  Wuhan, China.

  What do you wish you could do better?

  Driving. I am working on overcoming my fear of driving on highways.

  What would your readers be most surprised to learn about you?

  I have traveled all over the world, including the Antarctic.

  Some weeks I spend over sixteen hours playing badminton at my club with people twenty years younger than me and still manage to beat them.

  Hungry ghosts have come back to haunt the living.

  But can they be appeased with food?

  Keep reading for an excerpt from

  A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts

  available in hardcover from HENRY HOLT.

  Steamed Dumplings

  LONG AGO, IN 200 B.C.E, there was a small village called Bright Stars situated in the northern mountains of China, along the midsection of the Great Wall. The winter was harsh when this section of the wall was constructed. Heavy snowdrifts blocked the narrow paths through the rugged mountains. For months, supply caravans could not make it through to the workforce.

  That winter, some of the workers mysteriously vanished. Everyone was puzzled as to where they had gone: There were no roads out, and with no food, the escapees would surely perish in the cold. Desperate to stop the disappearances, the camp master divided the workers into small teams and issued an order to punish the entire unit if one member deserted.

  Despite food shortages, workers were forced to labor day and night in two shifts to meet the emperor’s demands—one mile of wall per day. Everyone struggled to survive.

  However, one inn—the Double Happy—never seemed to run out of food. It served the best steamed dumplings anyone had ever tasted. No one knew how the owner, Mu, a portly and crafty middle-aged man, got the supplies to make his dumplings so delicious.

  After the winter storms cut off the caravans, Mu raised his prices daily. Even so, hungry workers waited in long lines outside his inn. Everyone talked enviously about the fortune he was making.

  One cold night after the inn had closed, two starving workers broke into the kitchen. They hoped to steal some food before heading to their evening shift. The taller one, with a rope tied around his bulky cotton jacket, tiptoed in behind his friend, whose ragged fur hat covered most of his face.

  Full moonlight shone through the tall windows, leaving streaks of illumination on the kitchen floor. In the far corner, white mist hovered above a huge bamboo steamer on the stove. The scrumptious smell aroused their hunger and made them weak. As they reached for the dumplings, they heard scraping and chopping sounds from behind a cabinet next to the stove. They pushed the cabinet away from the wall, revealing a small door. Fur Hat opened it. Instantly, the pungent odors of garlic, ginger, pickled cabbage, meat, and blood repelled them back a step. Mu, the innkeeper, stood silhouetted in the yellow light of an oil lamp. With a cleaver in each hand he hacked at a dark mound of red meat on a heavy rectangular table. Near him, in a pile on the floor, were arms and legs! Most of them had had the meat stripped from their white bones.

  When Mu noticed Fur Hat and Cotton Jacket, he waved his cleavers about wildly and ran toward them. Fur Hat was a trained kung-fu fighter. He pushed his friend aside and swept his left leg across the innkeeper’s face, knocking him to the ground. The innkeeper’s knives whipped narrowly past Fur Hat. The blood from them drew inky red lines on the wooden floor.

  The two workers dragged Mu across the room. Cotton Jacket took the rope from his waist and tied the innkeeper’s hands to the table’s thick legs.

  “You watch over him,” Fur Hat said as he ran toward the door. “I’ll go report this.”

  “No!” begged the innkeeper. “Please, I’ll make you both wealthy. You will never go hungry again.”

  Fur Hat stopped, glanced at the flesh on the cutting board, and spat at the innkeeper. “How dare you offer me this disgusting meat! I would rather die of hunger—”

  “No, no! Of course not! I have roasted chicken, smoked fish, and rice cakes for you.” He jerked his chin toward the dark corner. “There, in those jars.”

  Cotton Jacket reached into one of the jars and took out a chicken wing. He bit into it. Thick brown sauce ran down his large hand. The innkeeper’s face lit up. “Well, how about untying me and we’ll talk.”

  Cotton Jacket stopped stuffing his pockets with preserved duck eggs. “How did you kill them?” He tried hard not to look at the bloody pile as he asked.

  “Easy!” A grin emerged upon the innkeeper’s face. “Like drunk chickens. Whenever I ran out of meat, I offered my last customers some strong sorghum wine. None of them ever refused, and they drank it like water. Once they passed out, I slit their throats. Most of them didn’t even wake.”

  “You devil!” Cotton Jacket ran over and kicked the innkeeper in his side. The innkeeper moaned sharply.

  “We can’t be late for our shift,” said Fur Hat, as he grabbed pieces of salted fish from a jar. “Let’s decide what to do with him in the morning.”

  Ignoring the innkeeper’s pleas, they moved the cabinet back into place, locked the door, and headed out into the cold.

  That night, a section of the wall collapsed, burying a team of workers alive. Fur Hat and Cotton Jacket were among them.

  The next morning, people were puzzled as to why the Double Happy didn’t open. Three days later, a group of hungry workers broke in. They ate everything they could find, including the rock-hard, frozen dumplings in the steamer.

  Before long, they noticed many large rats with shiny eyes and wiry whiskers, scurrying out from behind the cabinet. Each carried a strip of dark red meat. The workers moved the cabinet and found the door. Thinking they’d discovered a secret cache of food, they crowded into the room and then quickly fought to get out, shrieking and vomiting as they ran away.

  Inside, the innkeeper’s trussed body slumped agains
t the table. Scattered near him were the clothes, shoes, and bones of the missing workers.

  Large gray rats ran up and down the innkeeper’s body, tearing at the remaining tattered organs. Part of his left cheek was missing—and his face was frozen in a primal scream.

  That was the last day anyone ever entered the inn, until many years later …

  REVOLUTION IS NOT A DINNER PARTY. Copyright © 2007 by Ying Chang Compestine. Map copyright © 2007 by Jennifer Thermes. All rights reserved.

  For information, address Square Fish, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.