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Zhou Enlai 101

By Dan Harris and Steve Dickinson

One of my favorite blogs, Jottings From the Granite Studio, has a superb post up on Zhou Enlai, entitled, "This date in history: The Death of Zhou Enlai. Peking Duck rightly describes this post as "blogging at its very best" and additional kudos to the always formidable Danwei for spotting it first and for pulling out the following, which I too see as the key to the post:

Is our lasting image of Zhou Enlai to be the smooth, urbane diplomat showing up for talks in Geneva in a tailored-suit, silk tie, and fedora? Or will it be the Zhou Enlai standing on top of Tiananmen with a red armband and a little red book, screeching in a high-pitched hysterical frenzy, "Long Live Chairman Mao!" as hordes of fanatical teenagers chant in the square and the Chairman looks on in approval?

I am unable to provide a reasonably intelligent answer to that question and I am not even sure if it is because of my own shortcomings on Chinese history or if it is because it is still too soon to be able to jduge dispassionately.

Full post as published by China Law Blog on January 13, 2008 (boomark / email).