The Mao Case

red-armbanded men then rushed out of the building, speaking in a Beijing accent —”
    “Hold on, Mr. Diao. In your book, you mention a special team from Beijing. So those men were from that team?”
    “The fishmonger had no idea who they were, but they stood around her, keeping others away from the scene. When an ambulance
     finally arrived, she was long dead.”
    “Did the police come?”
    “It took hours for a police car to arrive. What did they do? They tried to wash away the bloodstains on the curb. For that
     matter, they didn’t do it thoroughly. Flies swirled around the dark red spots for days.”
    “What a tragic fate!”
    “A fate full of twists and turns,” Diao said, finishing a duck-stuffed pancake and wiping the sauce stain on his fingers with
     the napkin, as though wiping away memories. “As you know, she first became well-known in the forties. She must have attracted
     a lot of men — rich and powerful ones — and that shadowed her after 1949. Things were different in the early fifties. Young lovers
     kissing in Bund Park then could have been detained for pursuing a ‘bourgeois lifestyle.’ But Shang continued to lead a ‘notorious
     bourgeois life.’ What’s worse, her husband got into political trouble, which spelled the end of her career.
    “It was then that a
guiren
appeared in her life.
Guiren
— you know, an important man who brings about a change of luck into one’s life. One day, she got a handwritten note from the
     mayor of Shanghai, ‘Please come, Comrade Shang.’ So she hurried to the China-Russia Friendship Hall, where she was received
     by Mao. There was a grand dance party that evening. Swirling in Mao’s arms, she told him about her troubles. Shortly afterward,
     she was assigned new movie roles, one after another. In the fifties, the movie industry was state controlled and planned.
     Only a few movies were made each year. A lot of talented
actors and actresses couldn’t get parts — whether or not they had political problems. Against all odds, in one movie she
     played a militia woman, for which she even won a major award. She visited several foreign countries as a member of a Chinese
     artists delegation. And at a convention, the Party leaders would receive the delegation members before or after those visits
     abroad. So she appeared in newspaper pictures together with Mao.”
    “You have done a thorough study, Mr. Diao.”
    “Let me say one thing about my research. Even in the official publications, Mao’s passion for dancing has been acknowledged.
     After 1949, social dancing was condemned and banned as part and parcel of the bourgeois lifestyle, but within the high walls
     of the Forbidden City, Mao still danced to his heart’s content. According to the interpretation given in the
People’s Daily
, Mao worked so hard for China that these parties were necessary to provide relaxation for our great leader. But that’s nonsense.
     As for what happened after he danced with Shang, I don’t think I have to go into graphic details.”
    “No, you don’t,” Chen said. “But I have a question. During those years, perhaps there weren’t too many gifted partners in
     the Forbidden City. As a celebrated actress before 1949, Shang must have danced well. Could it be that Mao came to her for
     that reason?”
    “It takes a couple of hours for a young girl to learn how to dance like a pro. Mao was no dancing master. There was no need
     for him to go to the trouble to look for a partner in another city. Mao wasn’t without rivals at the top, in those days. Even
     his special train was bugged. What would people say about his relationship with such a notorious actress?” Diao went on, putting
     a crispy duck tongue into his mouth. “But he couldn’t help it. When he first met her, she was in her mid-thirties, in the
     full bloom of a woman’s beauty, elegant, highly educated, and from a good family too. Her dancing was like waves rippling
     in the breeze, like clouds wafting in the sky. And he could have watched her movies as early as in Yan’an. Madam Mao was also
     an actress, we shouldn’t forget that.”
    “Mao had an actress fetish, you mean?”

    “whatever you want to call it, Shang’s fate changed dramatically.”
    “But could it be some local officials contributed to the change in her life? Seeing her as Mao’s favorite partner, they tried
     to curry favor. Mao might not have been aware of it.”
    “They wouldn’t have gone out of their way