The Tragedy of Liberation: A History of the Chinese Revolution 1945-1957 

It's amazing that Stalin of all people was a moderating influence on Mao.

I have learned more from the Dr. in 20 hours of listening than I have from other sinologists over the years. Facts, interpretations and directness that are all incredibly valuable and refreshing.

I wonder if this lecture would even be permitted in Hong Kong anymore.

What a treasure this 1.5 hour presentation and discussion is! Thank you so much to all who made it possible.

This is a very sensitive topic in Hong Kong after June 30 1997.

Franks books is something that should be read by everyone who condemns the West for their past sins, and compare them with the sins of the CCP under Mao.

the beauty of Hong Kong. . .

Fabulous. Thank you!!

Please can you tell us where to get Chinese editions of your trilogy. Thank You.

Great talk, I am used to hearing Western audiences ask questions, interesting to see some overlap with Hong Kongers

Sounds like this is describing 2020

I think he is a quietly heroic figure. And it bought him quite a lot of time to write and get his message out there. Of course now, with the tightening of security, nationalism, and hardlinerism under Jinping that has been squashed to a large extent, but he did good work.

How many CCP agents asking loaded 'questions'? Such cool from the Professor.

I have been told by someone that the North East was initially offered to KMT. Although it isn't a big secret that both Russian and Chinese communists have much greater influence in the entire Northern part of China. This includes the present day inner Mongolia and Mongolia. KMT's main forces were in China proper and stretched all the way to South Western part of China.

Beginning and ends always a tragedy

God bless & I (born in HK under the British colony) to be free from the tyranny! Now bless HongKongers to face it agx!

clases de ciudadania en Españanol

36 = hundred flowers campaign

1:04:40 someone ripping a gigantic fart.

I read this book and I don't know whether to believe it or not. His graphic description of things seems a little over the top and too fake to be believable.

18.00

very informative and illuminating this lecture is . The so-called liberation is ironic . As a matter of fact, the history has turned back one page and a kind of draconian tyranny was restored . China got again isolated from the civilized world in 1949 and barbarism prevailed domestically .

It is illigal to own this video in hon Kong now

Speak Chinese well, this helps those who investigate Chinese history. Few from the outside of China itself are close enough to know deep enough the flesh and blood of Chinese history. As for the archives, one can be sceptical about the true veracity of what they appear to indicate, they are localised and do not reflect the entire situation under consideration about this period. A reasonable exposé of this period nevertheless, one more brick on the edifice of Chinese history, and it is only the beginning, what come next will have a different interpretation of history with different interpretations, will see, or at least those who will live long enough to see it happening.

Save Taiwan! FreeTibet! Deport Chinese here who are defensive and ignore us is if we ask about their culture or pretend they don't understand question.

30 = 2.2

My dictator is more horrid than your dictator! Gotta love the one-upmanship...

If the speaker cannot say anything about modern China, it is not difficult to understand the reality of today. During the time of Deng Xiaoping, an open-door approach to courting foreign investment, the CCP had imposed only one political requirement on capitalists penetrating China, it was that foreign companies must permit the establishment of branches of the official All-China Trade Union Confederation in their factories, so that the state controlled trade unions can effectively police working class opposition to the regime. This is not difficult to work out, no needs of archives. Following his active political career he, that is Deng Xiaoping, made sure of the transformation of the Chinese Communist Party from an organisation based on the working class working for the liberation from the capitalist grip and its practice of imperialism into an organisation which is the principal instrument for the development of capitalism in China and the suppression of the working class as a political force. In fact, Tiananmen Square massacre was the green light for foreign investors to be reassured that their investments wouldn’t be threatened by a Chinese popular uprising with revolutionary intends. As a result of such policies, some 200 millions workers and peasants abandoned the provinces of the interior in search of jobs and better living standards in the booming coastal areas. Now, the gap between the cities and the rural areas is so wide that the people cannot identify as a one country, more like two different worlds. None of the problems which confronted China in the various periods of the 20th century have been overcome, in appearance it seems to the contrary, yet, deep down the contradictions have amplified but in different forms, compounded with the massive problems of ecological dilemmas that didn’t exist at the time. The people are still to liberate themselves from the vertical power, an oppressive power bent to control at any cost the aspirations of the greatest majority which has no say in decision making and so far are victimised by most of them. This doesn’t mean that the capitalist world is doing better, not at all, same problems of a cast at the top of the masses who dictate unacceptable rules and regulations, using the political structures to do so. Be in the United States or China or anywhere else, we are still to liberate ourselves from the shackles of capitalism, often hidden under other denominations such as communism, socialism and any isme one can create. We are still very primitive creatures of the animal kingdom who have created in our head that we are above anything on earth, a kind of god, while we are still working the way out of this primitive stage of being. The system in place is the stick in the wheel of progress, we are conservative having the fear of the unknown in terms of the capacity for people to do better without this collar around our neck. We have a long way to go before we can call ourselves civilised and progressive all the way. Will see what is next.

I hate Mao

Practical politics implies the effective ability to ignore facts and reality. This was already well understood in the US and Europe. One can refer to the writings of the American journalist Henry Brooks Adams who wrote precisely such remarks, it was around 1907, not just yesterday. We are almost naïve about politics. A politician learn first how to deceive him/herself in order to deceive others, this reality should be understood well, crude and tough to visualised, yet it is an aspect of human behaviour which no one can ignore, to do so is at our own risk to be deceived and even victimised, and this applies to the people at large. So long the vertical power dominates the horizontal magma, we are to be trampled on and lied systematically.

Your understandings are totally at low level as junior student about the history and society of China. KMT party which consisted and represent by different groups but can't solve the deep problems in society at that time, for example the class caste, land controlled by landlords , and other old rules , ideologies which existed in our society for thousands years. Yes revolution is bloody and we had paid big prices, millions of civilians died, History heritages damaged, but we successfully destroyed the whole old systems, obstacles, and rebuild new rules, wipe out those old ideologies . The potentials of Chinese society can't successfully released without liberation and culture revolution Without the destructions on old systems and societies , there are no possibilities for China to become second world economy and get huge achievements at technologies. Deng's economy reforming and opening policy can't success without Mao's efforts on culture revolution which totally rebuilt our society and people. Myanmar, India , South Africa China………all of them got independence in 1940s-1950s, but Why only China get its economy, technology booming. China's economy is five times of India even we had started at same level. Why?

The great cause of the famine was Western propaganda. Dikotter frames his analysis from the perspective that ignores the initial conditions of China and what they achieved through their plight (literacy from 10% to 80% under Mao, radical improvements in healthcare, etc). Dikotter’s figures of 40 or 20 million starving are cyclically referenced (pseudoscientific) and primary sources are *selected* to match the desired conclusion (confirmation bias). The figures are trumpeted because of our *real* qualm over Mao - we were unable to maintain or take control of China. The phrase “Loss of China”’ was in our newspapers frequently in the 1950s, which is telling, as it assumes you have to own something before you can lose it. Regarding deaths, look up the increase in life expectancy from 1950 until 1978 - it rose dramatically from Mao’s reforms, so he saved lives almost radically. If you think about it you have to respect for China successfully fending of western imperialism prior to 1948, a profoundly difficult achievement. Look at the result of the other major regions that failed in this regard (Africa, India, even aboriginal Australia, etc). Respect to Mao and vast bulk of the ordinary population for protecting China from outside interference. Mao also did the forgotten but crucial work of rural health development programmes saving 100 million lives and modernizing architecture which set the conditions to make the industrialisation that followed being possible. Life span increased dramatically, rights of females and literacy increased from 10% to 90% under Mao. Rather than cherry picking setbacks give respect where respect is due.

ugh...the mic constantly captures every little sound from the insides of his mouth - every click of the tongue, clenching of the mouth and what sounds like swallowing etc. it is just so off putting that i couldnt pay attention to the lecture. it just sounds like a creep doing asmr, not that his face helps.

Hongkong style propaganda about CCP