The autobiography, first published by the Digest Publishing Agency of Shanghai Fudan University in 1937, records Mao's recollections of his experiences between 1893 and 1936, through interviews with American journalist Edgar Snow. Despite its remarkable historical value, however, this autobiography has never enjoyed the same fame as Red Star over China, another book by Snow on Mao Zedong and Chinese revolution.

The newly published autobiography was edited by Ding Xiaoping, who inadvertently came across a newspaper report that a 1937-edition of Mao Zedong's autobiography had been found in Xi'an. He was astonished to read that this edition contained previously unpublished pictures. As far as he could remember, the People's Publishing House had published, Personal Accounts of Mao Zedong in February 1993, which comprised excerpts from the notes Snow had made during his interviews with Mao in 1936, 1939, 1960 and 1970. These personal accounts were interlaced with the interviewer's objective depictions of the interviewee, and the autobiography records faithfully all the interviewee's recollections. This book is therefore precious for being a fully rounded autobiography.

Ding Xiaoping read the original edition of Mao Zedong's autobiography through collector Zhang Guozhu. On the damaged red cover in the top left corner is Mao Zedong's profile, and printed in the bottom left-hand corner is the statement: "Transcribed by Snow, translated by Wang Heng." The title is brush-inscribed by Pan Han-nian. On the title page is printed: "Attached are Mao's comments on the Sino-Japanese War and a Close-up of Madam Mao -- Ho Tze-jen; first impression November 1, 1937, second edition November 20, 1937. The digest series was distributed by the Liming Book Company. On the back of the title page is Mao's inscription: "Defend Peking and Tianjin, defend North China, defend the whole nation, and persevere in the war against Japanese imperialists. This is the current guiding principle in the anti-Japanese war, and mobilization and all aspects of the war effort are in the aim of its realization. Any vacillation, wavering or passivity is not to be tolerated. Mao Tse-tung, July 13, 1937." Beneath the signature is Mao's zhuan character seal.

The autobiography is divided into four chapters: "The Childhood of a Red Star," "Growing up amid Turbulence," "The First Page of Red History," and "Bravery, Loyalty and Super Endurance." In his Red Star over China Snow writes: "Seated next to me was Wu Liang-ping, a young Soviet 'functionary', who acted as interpreter during my 'formal' interviews with Mao Tse-tung. I wrote down in full in English Mao Tse-tung's answers to my questions, and these were then translated into Chinese and corrected by Mao, who is noted for his insistence upon accuracy of detail. With the assistance of Mr. Wu, the interviews were then re-translated into English." In 1979 Wu Liang-ping wrote an additional explanation: "At the request of Mao Tse-tung, Snow compiled the notes on Mao's revolutionary experience and wrote an account that was, after having been translated into Chinese by Huang Hua, scrutinized and revised slightly by Mao. Huang Hua translated these revisions into English, and returned the draft to Snow."

The autobiography's 15 photographs include one of Mao Zedong standing in a farmyard as a hen strolls behind him, and which has only come to light since the founding of the People's Republic of China. At a length of 90 pages and around 40,000 words, this autobiography was priced at 0.2 yuan (US$ 2 cents).

When comparing the autobiography with Red Star over China, Ding Xiaoping discovered that they had different translators, publishing dates (Red Star over China was published in February 1938, one year later than the autobiography) and that there were some discrepancies in the translation of the latter. After examination by the No.1 Department (formerly the Mao Zedong Research Panel) of the Party Literature Research Center of the CPC Central Committee, the original edition of the autobiography is now believed to be of great value. Neither the department nor Mao's relatives have a copy of the book, and it was only after extensive research that Ding found a copy of this edition in the national library.

Later an 87-year-old man from Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, wrote to Ding's publishing house, enclosing an advertisement for the autobiography that reads: "This book is the faithful record of Mao Tse-tung's oral account of his life to American journalist Snow, and is a significant document in the history of Chinese revolution. The original text was first published in the English magazine, Asia, in four installments. Since being translated and advertised in the Wartime Journal (a publication issued every ten days), the book has aroused great interest. The last chapter has now been airmailed to the agency, and has been translated by Mr. Wang Heng..."

In following up this clue, Ding Xiaoping searched through volumes of old documents, and eventually came to the conclusion that the autobiography originated in Red Star over China, which after having been published in Asia magazine in 1937, was translated, in part, by Wang Heng into two books -- Mao Zedong's Autobiography and The 25,000-li Long March -- both of which were distributed by the Liming Book Company. As a penalty for translating these banned books, Wang was blacklisted by the Kuomintang, and forced to leave Shanghai for Hubei Province.

With the help of the Shaanxi Archives, Ding Xiaoping established that the photographs of Mao appearing in this autobiography had been taken by Tian Yiming. In 1937 Tian, at the age of 23, went on official business to northern Shaanxi on the instructions of Du Bincheng, secretary-general of the Kuomintang Government of Shaanxi Province. Lin Boqu, then-president of the government of the Soviet Area, arranged for Tian to meet Mao Zedong. Tian wrote in his later report to Shaanxi Province: "I remember that the cave-dwelling faced east. On the kang (heated brick bed) was a piece of board covered by white bedding, forming a single bed. This indicated that Chairman Mao had not yet become accustomed to sleeping on a kang. Near the edge of the kang stood a small rectangular table, upon which were a few books and a tea set. A large military map was affixed to the wall. Upon sitting down, Chairman Mao started quizzing me, and asked some personal questions. At the end of our talk, I suggested taking pictures of Chairman Mao, and he readily agreed. At that time I was using a German-made AGFA filmpack camera. It took time to focus the camera and load the film, but Mao, standing in the yard, showed no sign of impatience, telling me: take your time. Just as I was about to click the shutter, a hen stepped behind Mao. I wanted to drive it away, but Chairman Mao waved his hand saying: "Leave it. The hen will add a touch of life to the picture."

In the light of the information contained in Red Star over China, Ding Xiaoping checked the autobiography word by word, and made over 150 amendments. The autobiography contains a few obvious mistakes. For example, on page 41 it reads: "In May 1920 I went to Shanghai to attend the inaugural meeting of the Communist Party," while in Red Star over China the date given for this event is "1921." Page 29 of the autobiography reads: "Li (Li Li-san) listened to all I had to say, and then went away without making any definite proposals himself. We later got to know each other and established a friendship." In Red Star over China, however, it states, "our friendship never developed."

After all these endeavors, Mao Zedong's autobiography was eventually published in photostat form, with a supplementary text in simplified characters attached.

(China Today December 7, 2001)