Chengmo Bao: Communist Elegy “Turning People into Ghosts”—A Call for Chinese Liberation from Tyranny

After six years of effort, Chengmo Bao, an education expert from New York State, completed his memoir Communist Elegy: Years Under the Red Flag, recounting 32 years of suffering in mainland China. Pictured: The book launch event in Taiwan on November 20, 2024. (Song Bilong / Dajiyuan)

[People's Daily Report] Chengmo Bao, born in Shanghai and labeled a "counter-revolutionary" during the Cultural Revolution, turned his life around by studying in the United States as a self-funded international student. Six years ago, after retiring from the U.S. education sector, he documented his 32 years of suffering in China in a memoir, which was recently published in Taiwan. The book exposes the true nature of the Chinese Communist Party. Bao stated that authoritarian societies "turn people into ghosts" and expressed his hope that Chinese people will no longer endure the hardships he experienced.

According to a report by Radio Free Asia, Bao’s memoir features the real names of people involved. At the book launch in Taipei, host Chang Chin-hua, an emeritus professor of journalism at National Taiwan University, asked whether this was appropriate. Bao explained that the individuals themselves had entrusted him with their stories, urging him to document them so that future generations could understand how tyranny can bring out the worst in human nature.

Bao traced his ancestry to Mongolian nobility as descendants of Genghis Khan, with his family later relocating from Anhui. His father, a Kuomintang (KMT) member, was branded a counter-revolutionary and the family was persecuted as one of the "Five Black Categories" during the Cultural Revolution. Born in 1952 in Shanghai, Bao was just three years old when his father was arrested during the CCP’s "Suppression of Counter-Revolutionaries" campaign. His father was later sentenced to life imprisonment as an "active counter-revolutionary." Bao recounted that from that moment on, he became a despised "pariah," subjected to discrimination and bullying, and living like a "ghost."

Bao described how, at the age of 14, he experienced the Cultural Revolution firsthand. The Red Guards ran rampant, and he was sent to the countryside for "re-education" under the watch of local farmers. He witnessed the deaths of two fellow educated youth, which deeply shook him. After nine years of being abandoned in rural areas, he was eventually assigned to work at the Huaibei coal mines.

Bao reflected: "I was willing to go because at least I could eat enough there. In my 32 years in China, I rarely had enough to eat. The bandit-like officials would say, ‘As someone from the Black Five Categories, a dog’s son, the Communist Party letting you live is the greatest gift—you still want to eat your fill?!’ During my 32 years in China, all opportunities for advancement were closed off to me. The best treatment I received was being demoted three ranks."

The Communist Party's "Communization" in Rural and Urban Areas

Using the experiences of his family, Chengmo Bao exposed how the Communist Party implemented its so-called "communization" policies in rural and urban areas. Regarding land reform in rural regions, he recounted: "They mandated the killing of 5% of the population village by village. If landlords didn’t account for 5%, they’d target the wealthiest individuals, execute them, and redistribute their land, furniture, and all their possessions. After land reform, the Communist Party gained the manpower it needed to fight the Kuomintang."

In urban areas, the communization process was carried out under the guise of "public-private partnerships." Bao recalled how many of his relatives on his mother’s side, members of the Liu family who were capitalists, came to his grandmother in tears, complaining that the Communist Party’s public-private partnerships were more ruthless than kidnapping. They lamented that their life's work had been wasted, leaving them destitute for the rest of their lives.

Bao also spoke of an uncle who was fluent in five languages and ran a large heavy machinery import-export business in Shanghai. During the late stages of the civil war, as the Nationalist government’s economy collapsed, he conducted business with foreigners using gold as currency. His safe was filled with foreign currencies, gold bars, and diamonds purchased as a hedge against inflation.

Bao recounted: "The Communist Party wouldn’t miss the opportunity to devour such a big target! It was simple—they accused him, saying, 'You’ve been doing business with Germans, and you speak German, so you must be a German spy or agent.' They sent him to a labor camp on a farm in Anhui. From the 1950s to the 1970s, he was imprisoned without a verdict for 20 years. Finally, they ruled: 'There were reasons for suspicion, but no evidence was found. Released without charges.' By the time he was released, he was mentally broken. After 20 years of brutal torture, he was no longer human."

Bao pointed out that the Communist Party’s rise to power relied on robbery and massacre, masked as "revolution." He criticized the regime for cloaking its violent seizure of power in the guise of revolution.

From the Cultural Revolution to the Free World: "Turning from a Ghost Back into a Human"

In 1984, Chengmo Bao self-funded his studies in the United States, ultimately earning a doctorate in education. He worked as a high school teacher in New York City, served as an education evaluator for the New York City Department of Education, and from 2005 to 2018, he was a "Commissioner for Improving Teaching Quality" at the New York State Education Department. He retired in 2018.

Bao said: "In the United States, I met many benefactors and experienced the kindness of Americans and the fairness of the American system. My experiences in China and the U.S. are stark contrasts. As I wrote on the book’s cover: in an authoritarian society, people are turned into ghosts, but in a free society, ghosts can become human again."

Bao explained that the title of his book carries two meanings. His 32 years in China were like living in hell, and even after arriving in the U.S., he would wake up from nightmares for a long time. Fortunately, that period of his life has passed. Through this book, he sings an elegy for his years in China and rings the death knell for the Communist regime.

Bao transformed himself from a youth at the bottom of an authoritarian society, humiliated and harmed, into a public servant in a free country. Refusing to forget his past, he wrote this memoir to awaken moral consciousness among those deceived by tyranny and to warn against repeating history.

At the book launch, host Zhang Chin-hua remarked that the campaigns before and after the Cultural Revolution resulted in the deaths of 80 million people, according to some estimates, yet there are very few memoirs documenting this period. She noted that the CCP’s use of violence and lies, combined with authoritarianism and class struggle, has harmed everyone—even family dynamics were marked by fierce struggles. Bao’s memoir serves as a microcosm of this historical tragedy. Zhang emphasized the importance of remembering past events to teach future generations, likening it to the message at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum: "Never again."

Akio Yaita: Under the Communist Elegy, Xi Jinping Transforms from Victim to Perpetrator

Akio Yaita, a journalist and executive director of the Indo-Pacific Strategy Institute, spoke at the event, reflecting on the author's concept of "turning people into ghosts under authoritarian rule." Yaita noted that both the author and Xi Jinping belong to the same generation. During the Cultural Revolution, Xi was sent to rural Yan'an and was deeply pained by the fate of his elder sister, who was exiled to Mongolia and ultimately driven to suicide due to persecution. Xi cried bitterly over her death, making him a victim of the system. However, as General Secretary, he has become a perpetrator, and all of China's tragedies are now inextricably linked to him.

Yaita remarked on recent cases of violent suicide attacks in Zhuhai, Wuxi, and Hunan, which have been labeled as examples of the "Zhang Xianzhong phenomenon," referencing the Ming-era peasant rebel leader. He explained that in China, when accidents result in more than 36 deaths, provincial officials must be held accountable. To avoid this, reports often claim 35 deaths or fewer, and victim lists are never disclosed. Yaita described the CCP's fundamental nature of evil and deceit, agreeing with Chengmo Bao’s statement that "the system turns people into ghosts" as a persuasive critique.

Yaita also highlighted the recent sentencing in Hong Kong's "47-person case," where social elites were given harsh prison sentences of 5–10 years merely for participating in pro-democracy elections—a process considered normal in any democratic country.

Yaita concluded by warning Taiwan to recognize the CCP's inherent evil and emphasized the fragility of freedom and democracy, urging that these values must be defended at all costs.