- 390 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
About this book
"The gripping and deeply moving account of a man's lifelong struggle to reach freedom, driven by an indomitable will to survive in Mao's China." —Xiaolu Guo, author of
Nine Continents
Xu Hongci was a bright young student at the Shanghai No. 1 Medical College, spending his days studying to be a professor and going to the movies with his girlfriend. He was also an idealistic and loyal member of the Communist Party and was generally liked and well respected. But when Mao delivered his famous February 1957 speech inviting "a hundred schools of thought [to] contend," an earnest Xu Hongci responded by posting a criticism of the party—a near-fatal misstep. He soon found himself a victim of the Anti-Rightist Campaign, condemned to spend the next fourteen years in Mao Zedong's labor reform camps, known as the laogai.
Xu Hongci became one of the roughly 550,000 Chinese unjustly imprisoned after the spring of 1957, and despite the horrific conditions and terrible odds, he was determined to escape. He failed three times before finally succeeding, in 1972, in what was an amazing and arduous triumph.
Originally published in Hong Kong, Xu Hongci's remarkable memoir recounts his life from childhood through his final prison break. After discovering his story in a Hong Kong library, the journalist Erling Hoh tracked down the original manuscript and compiled this condensed translation, which includes background on this turbulent period, an epilogue that follows Xu Hongci up to his death, and Xu Hongci's own drawings and maps. Both a historical narrative and an exhilarating prison-break thriller, No Wall Too High tells the unique story of a man who insisted on freedom—even under the most treacherous circumstances.
Xu Hongci was a bright young student at the Shanghai No. 1 Medical College, spending his days studying to be a professor and going to the movies with his girlfriend. He was also an idealistic and loyal member of the Communist Party and was generally liked and well respected. But when Mao delivered his famous February 1957 speech inviting "a hundred schools of thought [to] contend," an earnest Xu Hongci responded by posting a criticism of the party—a near-fatal misstep. He soon found himself a victim of the Anti-Rightist Campaign, condemned to spend the next fourteen years in Mao Zedong's labor reform camps, known as the laogai.
Xu Hongci became one of the roughly 550,000 Chinese unjustly imprisoned after the spring of 1957, and despite the horrific conditions and terrible odds, he was determined to escape. He failed three times before finally succeeding, in 1972, in what was an amazing and arduous triumph.
Originally published in Hong Kong, Xu Hongci's remarkable memoir recounts his life from childhood through his final prison break. After discovering his story in a Hong Kong library, the journalist Erling Hoh tracked down the original manuscript and compiled this condensed translation, which includes background on this turbulent period, an epilogue that follows Xu Hongci up to his death, and Xu Hongci's own drawings and maps. Both a historical narrative and an exhilarating prison-break thriller, No Wall Too High tells the unique story of a man who insisted on freedom—even under the most treacherous circumstances.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, you can cancel anytime from the Subscription tab in your account settings on the Perlego website. Your subscription will stay active until the end of your current billing period. Learn how to cancel your subscription.
No, books cannot be downloaded as external files, such as PDFs, for use outside of Perlego. However, you can download books within the Perlego app for offline reading on mobile or tablet. Learn more here.
Perlego offers two plans: Essential and Complete
- Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
- Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, we’ve got you covered! Learn more here.
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.
Yes! You can use the Perlego app on both iOS or Android devices to read anytime, anywhere — even offline. Perfect for commutes or when you’re on the go.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Yes, you can access No Wall Too High by Xu Hongci, Erling Hoh in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Social Sciences & Social Science Biographies. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright Notice
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Map: Xu Hongci’s Escape Routes
- How This Book Came to Be
- 1. The French Will Protect Us (1933–1945)
- 2. A Heart Is Always Red (1945–1949)
- 3. In Cold Blood (1950–1951)
- 4. I Saw the Chairman (1952–1953)
- 5. Khrushchev’s Secret Speech (1954–1956)
- 6. Not of This World (1956)
- 7. A Breath of Fresh Air (1957)
- 8. Rip Him to Pieces (July 1957–April 1958)
- 9. The Forgotten Archipelago (April–December 1958)
- 10. Escape (December 1958–February 1959)
- 11. On the Brink of Freedom (February–April 1959)
- 12. Fiddlehead Congee (1959–1960)
- 13. Angel of Death (1960–1961)
- 14. How to Bore a Blast Hole (1963–1965)
- 15. No Way Home (1965–1966)
- 16. The Price of Truth (1966)
- 17. Hell’s Gate (1966–1968)
- 18. Inferno (1968–1969)
- 19. The Art of War (1969–1972)
- 20. Endgame (August 6–September 10, 1972)
- Epilogue
- Final Thoughts
- Notes
- Appendix 1: A Foul Wind in the Department of Medicine
- Appendix 2: A Rightist Pawn Attacks the Party
- Acknowledgments
- Index
- Illustrations
- A Note About the Author and the Translator
- Newsletter Sign-up
- Contents
- Copyright