Jung Chang On Life Under Mao & Being Banned From China

In this powerful episode of Empire: World History, host William Drimple presents an extract from a bonus conversation with Jung Chang, the acclaimed author of *Wild Swans* and *Fly, Wild Swans*. Chang recounts her harrowing personal experience during China's Cultural Revolution, including her brief time as a Red Guard at age 14, her witnessing of the destruction of ancient cultural sites, and the persecution of her parents—both of whom were imprisoned and subjected to brutal denunciation meetings. Despite being swept into the fervor of the movement, she describes herself as deeply detached and horrified by the violence, emphasizing her internal resistance to the radicalism that consumed her peers. She reflects on the psychological toll of living under a regime that erased history, burned books, and punished dissent, while also revealing how her family survived through state-organized allowances and medical care. Chang shares poignant moments, such as writing her first poem on her 16th birthday and flushing it down the toilet to avoid detection, and later discovering forbidden Western literature through a black market network. Her story culminates in a moment of hope during Nixon’s 1972 visit to China, which opened a narrow window to foreign ideas. The episode offers a deeply personal lens on one of the 20th century’s most devastating political upheavals, blending trauma, resilience, and intellectual awakening.