The Party’s Interests Come First: The Life of Xi Zhongxun, Father of Xi Jinping
The ways in which we craft historical narratives are often influenced by contemporary concerns, and how we understand the life of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) revolutionary Xi Zhongxun is no exception. In his comprehensive account of Xi’s life, political scientist Joseph Torigian cautions readers from the outset that this “is itself a story about the politically explosive nature of competing versions of the past.” (5) During Xi’s own life, party history was already highly politicized. As Xi Zhongxun’s son, Xi Jinping, has become indisputably the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong, both Xi Jinping’s “detractors” and “boosters” have also sought to “weaponize” Xi Zhongxun’s life and legacy for their own sociopolitical motives. (6)