I had to read the English translation since I cannot read or speak Mandarin unfortunately. Its a really good and engaging book imo, gets better with every page and supposedly loveecraft level shit goes down by the end.
In the beginning tho there are a few scenes describing the Cultural Revolution and struggle sessions.
Is it true that Einstein's theories of Relativity were frowned upon by red guard university students because they were seen as capitalist propaganda?
And is it true that some university lecturers were beaten to death during the struggle sessions? I mean cool if they deserved it (feudal landlords etc.) but the Relativity part seems a bit like the author making shit up.
Its funny how despite this the author is not even overtly rabidly critical of Marxism or Communism itself, unlike western authors who spend 10 pages to explain why "muh gommunism bad" every time such events get brought up. Liu seems to be critical of just the events which transpired during the cultural revolution.
You shouldn't pirate the book from z-library because its very unethical and a breach of IP, so you will be sent to hell when you die.
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A good source...kind of doesn't exist. I'm very, very hesitant to recommend Yang Jisheng's The World Turned Upside Down since he imbibed some western brainworms after Tiennaman Square and he paints Mao as a villain of the piece, but I'm unaware of a better-sourced book in English by a Chinese author.
He was at least a journalist through the period and was a member of the party, so it's all..factual...there's just a lot of opinion there that just so happens to support the standard anti-communist western left narrative.
Good suggestions around that subject are the “100 day war” by William H. Hinton, Mobo Gao’s The Battle for China’s Past: Mao and the Cultural Revolution, , Cultural Revolution and Industrial Organization in China by Charles Bettelheim, Mao: A Reinterpretation (Lee Feigon)
I'd forgotten about Feigon. Yes, recommended.