Li Zhisui () (1919 – 13 February 1995) was
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong pronounced ; also Romanization of Chinese, romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the List of national founde ...
's personal doctor and confidant.
[Derek Davies]
OBITUARY: Li Zhisui
The Independent, 17 February 1995 He was born in
Beijing
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Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
in 1919. After emigrating to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
, he wrote a biography of Mao entitled ''
The Private Life of Chairman Mao
''The Private Life of Chairman Mao: The Memoirs of Mao's Personal Physician'' is a memoir by Li Zhisui, one of the physicians to Mao Zedong, former Chairman of the Communist Party of China, which was first published in 1994. Li had emigrated to th ...
''. The biography was based on his recollection of journals he had kept, and later found expedient to destroy, while a doctor to Mao.
In the summer of 1968 and during the
Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...
, Mao's wife,
Jiang Qing, placed Li's life in danger by, accusing him of trying to poison her. Li managed to hide, living incognito with the workers of the
Beijing Textile Factory
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
. These workers were among the 30,000 Mao dispatched to
Qinghua University
Tsinghua University (; abbr. THU) is a national public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education.
The university is a member of the C9 League, Double First Class University Plan, Project 98 ...
to quell the warfare there between two factions of the
Red Guards.
On 13 February 1995, Li died following a heart attack at his son's house in
Carol Stream, Illinois, where he had been living since emigrating.
Li was interested in psychiatry. In October 1986, Li wrote the Preface for the first Chinese textbook on psychopharmacology, "''Psychopharmacological Treatment for Psychiatric Disorders''."
Tsai_(Cai)_Neng_(蔡能),_Shi_Hong-zhang_(史鸿璋),_etc.,_Shanghai_Scientific_Technology_Publisher,_May_1987.html" ;"title="St. John's University, Shanghai#Citations">Tsai (Cai) Neng (蔡能), Shi Hong-zhang (史鸿璋), etc., Shanghai Scientific Technology Publisher, May 1987">St. John's University, Shanghai#Citations">Tsai (Cai) Neng (蔡能), Shi Hong-zhang (史鸿璋), etc., Shanghai Scientific Technology Publisher, May 1987
Work
''The private life of Chairman Mao: the memoirs of Mao's private physician'', Publ. Random House, New York (1994),
References
''Li Zhisui'' on Encyclopædia Britannica, 2009
1919 births
1995 deaths
Physicians from Beijing
Writers from Beijing
Chinese biographers
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