I watched again Farewell my Concubine--when I first watched it in the 1980s, in a cinema--

I understood it not at all.

You can find it by Googling Farewell my Concubine--be warned it's a wrenching experience even if you know the opera is based on Chinese history and you know about the Cultural Revolution.

I think it's also about gender identification and homophobia.

I thought it would end like La Boheme,with one word, and I was right.

In about 2000 I interviewed Nien Cheng, author of Life and Death in Shanghai.

Her daughter was pushed out of a window by the Red Guards and died.

Deng Xioping's elded son jumped from a third floor window and was severely paralysed.

I also highly recommend Nien Cheng's book.

I asked her if she went back to China.

She said if her daughter had lived, she might have.

I can completely understand her.

I am currently reading Linda Javin's The Shortest History of China which gives it to you in a nutshell--from the paleolithic to Xi Jinping.

From watching so much Chinese (historical)drama such as The Qin Dynasty Epic and the series about Lui Bang I now have a better long view.

I started in Burma reading Edgar Snow's Red Star over China.

I wish you well, tomorrow is Labor Day.

Copyright Kyi May Kaung

9-6-2026