Jung Chang

“I was a Red Guard. We were the tools of the dictatorship.”

“My story is a universal one... It is a story of a family and a country.”

“In China, we were not taught to be thinkers. We were taught to be believers.”

“I want my books to be read by the Chinese people.”

“I learned to be very cautious and keep my thoughts to myself.”

“For us, the family was a fortress. We were in it together.”

“To me, the Cultural Revolution was a tragedy.”

“Wild Swans' was a very personal book, a labour of love.”

“Mao was not a god, he was a monster.”

“My grandmother's feet were bound when she was two years old. Her mother did it to ensure her a marriage.”

“The Chinese are indoctrinated from childhood, and they have no alternative information.”

“At the age of fifteen, I was sent to the edge of the Tibetan plateau to be a peasant.”

“History is not a morality play.”