New book says Communist China's first premier was probably gay

Record ID: 1404710

  • Title: New book says Communist China's first premier was probably gay
  • Date: 31st December 2015
  • Summary: HONG KONG, CHINA (DECEMBER 30, 2015) (REUTERS) AUTHOR OF BOOK "THE SECRET EMOTIONAL LIFE OF ZHOU ENLAI", TSOI WING-MUI, READING BOOK PHOTO OF FIRST PREMIER OF PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA, ZHOU ENLAI, ON COVER OF BOOK TSOI'S EYES PHOTO OF YOUNG ZHOU (CENTRE) AND SCHOOLMATE LI FUJING (LEFT), WHOM TSOI SAYS ZHOU MAY HAVE LOVED TSOI'S HAND FLIPPING PAGES AND POINTING AT PHOTO OF ALLEGEDLY A YOUNG ZHOU DRESSED AS FEMALE CHARACTER IN SCHOOL PLAY TSOI'S HAND POINTING AT PHOTO OF ALLEGEDLY A YOUNG ZHOU DRESSED AS FEMALE CHARACTER IN SCHOOL PLAY (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) AUTHOR OF BOOK "THE SECRET EMOTIONAL LIFE OF ZHOU ENLAI", TSOI WING-MUI, READING AN EXCERPT FROM ZHOU ENLAI'S DIARY IN 1918 (WHEN ZHOU WAS 20 YEARS OLD) AND SAYING: "'Love is borne out of passion. Whether man or woman, and for all other living things, if passion is expressed from one side, and there is a response from the other, then this can be called 'love'. So it is that even horses and dogs have emotions. As for husband and wife, it is purely for organizing a household and for continuing the human race that this type of union exists.' I think these lines can be seen as his confession of being gay." PHOTOS OF ZHOU'S DIARY IN BOOK TSOI'S HAND FLIPPING PAGES / PAGE SHOWING PHOTOS OF ZHOU AND WIFE DENG YINGCHAO (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) AUTHOR OF BOOK "THE SECRET EMOTIONAL LIFE OF ZHOU ENLAI", TSOI WING-MUI, SAYING: "In mainland China, where there is no freedom of speech and freedom of publication, Zhou Enlai was a leader of the revolution, one of the founding fathers of modern China. He belonged to the same class of leaders as Mao Zedong. So even if you have any such suspicions, you wouldn't have a chance to look into it or do any research." "THE SECRET EMOTIONAL LIFE OF ZHOU ENLAI" PLACED NEXT TO BANNED BOOKS ABOUT COMMUNIST CHINA BEHIND SIGN (ENGLISH) "NEW" STAFF AT BOOKSTORE TIDYING UP BOOKSHELF VARIOUS OF "THE SECRET EMOTIONAL LIFE OF ZHOU ENLAI" PLACED NEXT TO BANNED BOOKS ABOUT COMMUNIST CHINA BEIJING, CHINA (DECEMBER 30, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF TRAFFIC ON CHANG'AN AVENUE CHINESE FLAG PEOPLE WALKING ON PEDESTRIAN WALK (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 30-YEAR-OLD OFFICE WORKER CHEN LI, SAYING: "That's impossible! I don't believe it's true." (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 30-YEAR-OLD OFFICE WORKER SURNAMED LIU, SAYING: "I think that no matter what kind of person he was, Zhou Enlai was a premier who is quite loved by the people of our country." CHEN: "Right." PEOPLE WALKING ON PEDESTRIAN WALK (SOUNDBITE) 32-YEAR-OLD ENGINEER, YANG WENMO, SAYING: "That's not true, no way. Impossible." REPORTER: "Why?" YANG: "Because he was a great figure in Chinese history. This sort of thing wouldn't happen to him. That's totally impossible." TRAFFIC ON CHANG'AN AVENUE TRAFFIC ON CHANG'AN AVENUE/ SIGN READING (English) "TIAN'ANMEN 3 KM"
  • Embargoed: 14th January 2016 04:51
  • Keywords: China premier Zhou enlai gay book the secret emotional life of Zhou enlai Tsoi Wing-mui Hong Kong
  • Location: HONG KONG AND BEIJING, CHINA
  • City: HONG KONG AND BEIJING, CHINA
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0013G6MJ45
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
    A book to be published in Hong Kong in the new year says Zhou Enlai, Communist China's much-respected first premier, was probably gay despite his long marriage, and had once been in love with a male schoolmate two years his junior.
    The Hong Kong-based author, Tsoi Wing-mui, is a former editor at a liberal political magazine there who has written about gay-themed subjects before though this is her first book.
    She re-read already publicly available letters and diaries Zhou and his wife, Deng Yingchao, wrote, including ones that detailed Zhou's fondness for a schoolmate and emotional detachment from his wife, to conclude that Zhou was probably gay.
    "Love is borne out of passion. Whether man or woman, and for all other living things, if passion is expressed from one side, and there is a response from the other, then this can be called 'love'. So it is that even horses and dogs have emotions. As for husband and wife, it is purely for organizing a household and for continuing the human race that this type of union exists.' I think these lines can be seen as his confession of being gay," said Tsoi.
    Zhou was premier from the revolution in October 1949 that brought the Communist Party to power until his death from cancer in 1976, a few months before the death of his revolutionary colleague Mao Zedong, the founder of modern China.
    Reuters obtained excerpts of the Chinese-language book, called "The Secret Emotional Life of Zhou Enlai". It is published by the same house that put out the secret diaries of former Communist Party chief Zhao Ziyang, who was ousted after 1989's Tiananmen Square crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators.
    Tsoi re-read books published by the party in 1998 to mark the 100th anniversary of Zhou's birth that contained public essays and speeches by Zhou as well as his diary, letters, poems, novels and thesis from 1912 to 1924.
    Tsoi said the real meaning of the diaries had been hidden in plain sight, but no Chinese scholars had openly made the connection before as the subject of homosexuality was unknown to them.
    The book says Zhou was most fond of Li Fujing, a schoolmate two years his junior.
    Zhou wrote in his diary that he could not live one day without Li, the author says in the book, and being with Li can "turn sorrow into joy".
    Zhou and Li shared a dormitory from 1917 and "even their shadows do not part", she wrote. Li died in 1960.
    Zhou married Deng Yingchao in 1925. They had no children of their own.
    There were "no romantic feelings" and it was a "marriage in name only ... He was never in love with his wife," Tsoi wrote.
    Deng, who was chairwoman of a high profile but largely ceremonial advisory body to parliament from 1983-88, died in 1992.
    "In mainland China, where there is no freedom of speech and freedom of publication, Zhou Enlai was a leader of the revolution, one of the founding fathers of modern China. He belonged to the same class of leaders as Mao Zedong. So even if you have any such suspicions, you wouldn't have a chance to look into it or do any research," she said.
    It is a contention certain to be controversial in China, where the Communist Party likes to maintain its top leaders are more or less morally irreproachable and where homosexuality is frowned upon, though no longer officially repressed.
    "Zhou Enlai was a gay politician who had the misfortune of being born 100 years early," Tsoi writes in her book.
    It is not illegal to be gay in China and these days many large Chinese cities have thriving gay scenes, although there is still a lot of family pressure to get married and have children, even for gay men and women.
    There are a handful of openly gay celebrities in China but certainly no politicians say in public they are gay.
    While Chinese literature and history are rich in their descriptions of relatively liberal attitudes towards homosexuality during imperial times, the revolution brought more prudish attitudes.
    Tsoi expects the book to be banned in China, where discussion of controversial personal details of senior leaders, especially historically significant ones like Zhou, are off limits.
    Residents in Beijing, when asked to comment on the book, expressed shock and disbelief.
    "That's impossible! I don't believe it's true," said 30-year-old office worker Chen Li.
    "I think that no matter what kind of person he was, Zhou Enlai was a premier who is quite loved by the people of our country," said her co-worker Ms. Liu.
    "That's not true, no way. Impossible. Because he was a great figure in Chinese history. This sort of thing wouldn't happen to him. That's totally impossible," said 32-year-old Yang Wenmo.
    The State Council Information Office, or cabinet spokesman's office, did not respond to requests for comment. The Communist Party History Research Office, reached by telephone, declined to comment.
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