RIP Liu Binyan

Decmber 2005 witnessed the passing of Liu Binyan, often described as a "dissident" writer and widely regarded as one of China's foremost journalists. Liu suffered greatly for his fierce determination to expose the greed and corruption rampant within the Chinese Communist Party. Before being effectively exiled in 1987, Liu spent the better part of two decades enduring "thought reform" through forced labor.

Liu's memoir, A Higher Kind of Loyalty, is a powerful account of the madness that was China's Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution. But readers new to Chinese "scar" literature might first opt for Harry Wu's Bitter Winds. At any rate, be sure to leave room for Li Zhisui's mind-blowing The Private Life of Chairman Mao.