Jung Chang spent more than a decade, with her husband John Halliday, researching all aspects of the life of Mao Tse-tung to produce a highly acclaimed biography of Mao.

Through interviews with many of Mao’s close circle in China who had never talked publicly before, and with virtually everyone outside China who had significant dealings with him, they revealed an extraordinary portrait of the Chinese leader, exploding many of the myths surrounding him.

In her lecture, Jung Chang will give a fascinating insight into her own personal journey towards understanding the tumultuous life of one of the 20th century’s most notorious political figures.

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Dr Jung Chang
Jung Chang was born in Yibin, Sichuan Province, China, in 1952.

During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) she worked as a peasant, a ‘barefoot’ doctor, a steelworker, and an electrician before becoming an English-language student and, later, an assistant lecturer at Sichuan University.

She left China for Britain in 1978 and obtained a PhD in Linguistics in 1982 at the University of York - the first person from Communist China to receive a doctorate from a British university.

She is the author of the best-selling books Wild Swans - Three Daughters of China and Mao: The Unknown Story (co-written with Jon Halliday). Both books have been translated into more than 30 languages, and together sold some 15 million copies. Among the many awards she has won are the UK Writers’ Guild Best Non-Fiction (1992) and Book Of The Year UK (1993).

Venue: The Hub
Castlehill
Royal Mile
Edinburgh
EH1 2NE