Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Phew!
Didn’t think I would ever be able to finish ‘To the Edge of the Sky’ a memoir by author Anhua Gao about growing up and living through Mao’s regime in China. Perhaps at the hands of a better editor, this would’ve been unputdownable, but even though it can get repetitively tedious, it’s a fascinating first account about what it was like to live through the turbulent years of Maoist China, including the cultural revolution years.
Author Anhua Gao offers an extremely detailed look at her life as a teen Red Guard while she was in school, after which she became a soldier in the PLA (People’s Liberation Army), training hard, until she was betrayed by someone very close, so she was removed from the army and sent to work at a factory.
Titled ‘My Parents’, chapter one of ‘To the Edge of the Sky’ begins with the author describing her father as a 20-year-old Chinese youth filled with despair, wondering if he should just end it all by throwing himself in the Yangtze river, then resolving to not give up. He went on to become a high-ranking official in the PLA and was bestowed the title of a ‘revolutionary martyr’ by the Mao government, as was his wife, when they died.
Born in 1949 in Nanjing, the same year the Maoist regime came to power, Anhua Gao was raised as a staunch communist by her parents. She was only a school girl of 12 when she lost both her parents, and was separated from her three other siblings to be raised by her uncle.
Readers meet her first as a little girl keen on being at the top of her class, then a teen who studies relentlessly to get into university, then as a young woman soldier in the PLA, and the final chapters of ‘To the Edge of the Sky’ track her abusive marriage, domestic violence, persecution at the hands of the Chinese security police, and finally some prosperous years as a widow who stands on her own feet.
From faithfully describing her ardent devotion to Mao and his teachings as a young girl, to writing about how she was eventually disillusioned by the corrupt regime, the author goes into vivid detail about her struggles as an orphaned teen who somehow managed to survive several political upheavals under Mao, which saw several of her own loved ones lose their lives.
‘To the Edge of the Sky’ spends several chapters detailing the brutal persecution faced by ordinary Chinese citizens, especially intellectuals and teachers, during the Cultural Revolution. Anhua especially reflects on the grim rural conditions students were forced into after Mao’s push to send urban youth to villages, where they faced disease, starvation, poor sanitation, and extreme poverty. While village life can be idyllic, the version Anhua experienced was one of hunger, deprivation, and survival on the brink of death.
Terrified of being sent to the countryside, Anhua desperately tried to pull some connections to join the army, choosing to rather go through the military’s grueling regime than living in a village. She did get into the PLA, but over there too, it wasn’t easy to survive, especially as she began to lose her faith in Mao’s regime. Sample the following excerpt from ‘To The Edge of the Sky’:
“The excitement of joining the army soon waned, and I was worried at my lack of enthusiasm in idolizing Mao. I was under great pressure of my own making and constantly wary of giving myself away. It was not army life I objected to – I was beginning to enjoy it and was putting all my efforts into being a good soldier – it was having to pretend to worship Mao that gave me problems. I hated my duplicity and hypocrisy. However, anything was better than being sent to the countryside.“
One of the most fascinating political insights in To the Edge of the Sky is its depiction of how Mao encouraged citizens to turn against one another, fostering a fear-driven regime built on sycophancy, informants, and blind loyalty. Anhua had to constantly censor her thoughts, lest she say the wrong thing in front of the wrong person. A slip on her part ultimately makes her pay a heavy price.
The author constantly highlights how she had an easier life due to her status as the daughter of two revolutionary martyrs, although after her life as a soldier, things get worse for her when she finds herself in an abusive marriage. Anhua also explores her relationship with her siblings, two of whom go on to become communist hardliners. Her relationship with her older sister, Andong, is the only consistent thread in the novel, which unfortunately takes a tragic turn in the end.
The biggest problem with this book? It’s tediously long, with several unnecessary details, some of which are repetitive. But for any reader specifically interested in reading what life was like for a citizen under the maoist regime, ‘To the Edge of the Sky’ offers a lot of insights.
Rating for ‘To the Edge of the Sky’: 3 on 5 stars.
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