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Sons of Heaven, by Terrence Cheng
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Sons of Heaven is an epic novel set against the backdrop of one of modern history's most haunting events: the Tiananmen Square Massacre. In June of 1989, the world watched in horror as China's military was mobilized to suppress a student movement that stood for peaceful democracy. Hundreds were killed; others say into the thousands. No one knows for sure.
But the image that remains most powerful is that of a lone young man, looking confused yet terribly brave, as he held his ground before a rolling line of tanks. Who was he, and why did he do what he did? No one has ever been able to determine his identity or fate. Within the pages of Sons of Heaven, in a stunning blend of history and fiction, Terrence Cheng has vividly created for this young hero a life, and given him a voice.
Cheng constructs the young man's life as he goes away to America to complete his education. He falls in love with a beautiful young American girl who opens to him a free life filled with opportunity. When he returns to China he becomes embittered and disillusioned; only the potential for political change seems to revive him. Also portrayed is the story of the young man's older brother, an ardent member of the Red Army, who is ordered to capture his sibling. In the end, their political differences turn deadly. On one level this is a novel of history as played out in modern China, but first and foremost, it is about the universal ties of family and the difficult process of boys learning to become men.
Cheng also scrutinizes the life and history of Deng Xiaoping, China's leader who is suspected of giving the final order to turn the People's Army against its own people. What historical and political factors affected his decisions that fateful summer? Was Deng the monster that the world made him out to be?
An unsettling and powerfully lacerating story of family, faith, and courage, Sons of Heaven weaves the lives of peasants and soldiers, politicians and gods, into a timeless snapshot of one of history's most memorable and heartrending events. With this unforgettable, psychologically acute novel, Terrence Cheng confirms that he is a daring and important new voice in fiction.
- Sales Rank: #1515652 in Books
- Published on: 2002-04
- Released on: 2002-04-30
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: .94" h x 6.52" w x 9.31" l,
- Binding: Hardcover
- 320 pages
Amazon.com Review
With Sons of Heaven, Terrence Cheng has crafted a personal and insightful look into the Tiananmen Square massacre and its participants. Inspired by the famous footage of the unknown man who stopped the tanks, Cheng creates a conjectural history for him in the character of Xiao-Di, an intelligent, opinionated young man raised by his grandparents in Beijing. The father of Xiao-Di's girlfriend, a supervisor at the employment bureau, helps him receive a scholarship to study at Cornell. After ending the relationship and returning to Beijing, Xiao-Di finds himself blacklisted from employment. Idealistic and angry, he joins the growing student movement centered in Tiananmen. Cheng intersects the narrative with Xiao-Di's brother Lu, a bitter, vicious soldier later ordered to capture him, and the character of Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, combining history and speculation in an attempt to understand the violent response to the protests. With patience and understatement, Cheng offers a sympathetic glimpse into each man's inner life and motivations, revealing their shared experiences and tragedies. The author humanizes these stories with just the right amount of quietly stunning detail in his assured, elegant prose, such as the "sparkles over the Mao pins" on Lu's boyhood uniform, or in Deng's evocative dreams:
Here is a wolf-faced Mao, lean and sharp-eyed, his hair long and wavy framing the sides of his face. He smokes cigarette after cigarette, blowing clouds into the air of the blue night.… Mao stands with a rifle and blasts a shot into the night, and in the purple drop of evening stars shatter and rocket the sky.
A haunting, rare book, Sons of Heaven communicates the basic humanity of these characters and the true cost of their conflict. --Ross Doll
From Publishers Weekly
Centering around the Tiananmen Square massacre and its aftermath, this remarkably structured and textured debut epic seeks to attach a face to the mysterious man who, by stepping in front of the rolling army tanks, became the most recognizable symbol of the massacres. Cheng succeeds in his endeavor, and in the process he gives China a face as well¢one so vivid and provocative it's hard to walk away without a fresh impression of the massacre, the 13 years since, and modern-day China in general. Three months before the massacre, Xiao-Di returns to China after spending four years at Cornell University, where he fell in love with a blonde American girl who left him upon graduation. But he has tasted freedom and his return to China is turbulent. He cannot find work. He grapples with the way the masses adhere to tradition and respect authority. He lives with his grandparents (his parents are dead) and when not at home feeling angry and confused, he is out with his friend Wong, bleakly contemplating the future. Then, through the eyes of president Deng Xiaoping, we enter Tiananmen Square, where students have begun protesting. Cheng successfully humanizes the person he has called a complicated man, driven by a genuine passion to create a better society for the Chinese people. Xiao-Di soon finds himself impulsively partaking in a hunger strike and, before long, facing down a tank. Complicating matters is his brother, Lu, a Chinese soldier who is sent with a unit to find Xiao-Di. Through the brothers and their grandparents, a multifaceted and sophisticated portrait of the Chinese people is rendered. This is a rare find: historical and political without being pedantic, and briskly entertaining without being cheap, simplistic or contrived.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Cheng left Taiwan in 1973 as an infant and grew up in New York. In 1989, he watched the TV reports of the anonymous young man who challenged the tanks in Tiananmen Square and was never heard from again. Cheng's debut novel traces a possible biography for this iconic character. A math student who spent his college years in the States, the young man returns to China, where his long-standing engagement turns sour and the fiancee's family retaliates by blackballing him. Living with helpless grandparents and abandoned by an older brother, he joins the fasting students in Tiananmen Square. As Cheng limns the agony of this youth, he also traces the parallel thoughts and actions of the mastermind at the top of the government, Deng Xiaoping, and the true believer at its bottom, the student's brother, who is a lowly soldier. Despite some fevered overplotting, there is much grace, drama, and insight to be enjoyed; Cheng is particularly effective in depicting the perilous state of mind experienced by risk-taking. A ripping good story about a headline event of great power and resonance, it is sure to be marketed heavily and will appeal to many public library patrons. Barbara Conaty, Library of Congress
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
Modern Chinese Culture & Customs - A Superb Novel!
By Baseball Fan
On June 5, 1989 the world was shocked by the image of a lone unarmed young man standing in front of a column of tanks in Tiananmen Square attempting to block their procession and (climbing on the lead tank) begging China's Peoples' Liberation Army (PLA) troops to stop the massacre of their own people (mainly students) that had begun the previous day. (I remember that image as if it were yesterday). The image of this unidentified young man was impressed on the `global memory' as a condemnation of the Tiananmen Square Massacre (during which thousands of Chinese students were killed by PLA troops during two days of violence), and the symbol of Chinese freedom.
"Sons of Heaven: A Novel", by Terrance Cheng, blends fiction and history in telling the story of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, the events leading up to it, and the aftermath. The story centers on three characters: the `dissident', the `soldier', and the `comrade', as follows:
* Dissident - This refers to fictionalized representation of the above-mentioned young man. His name is Xiao-Di, and he participates in the Tiananmen Square Protests
* Soldier - This refers to a fictionalized character named Lu. He is Xiao-Di's older brother, and is an infantryman in the Peoples' Liberation Army
* Comrade - This refers to Deng Xiaoping, who (it is suspected) ordered the Tiananmen Square Massacre which was carried out by Premier Li Peng.
The various sections of the book titled `Dissident' are narrated in the first person. As such, Cheng gives Xiao-Di a voice to express his point of view regarding the Tiananmen Square Massacre.
"Sons of Heaven: A Novel" illustrates how the Tiananmen Square Protests, in conjunction with the students' demands that the government liberalize its policies, uncovered pre-existing conflicts between the government and the people (who yearned for democracy). This book shows how the ensuing Tiananmen Square Massacre exacerbated those conflicts (with the Peoples' Liberation Army `caught in the middle') and fueled `intra-family' clashes (e.g., between blood brothers Xiao-Di and Lu). The initial purpose of the Tiananmen Square Protests was to demand that the government reassess the legacy of Hu Yaobang (who died on April 15, 1989) so that history would portray his accomplishments in a favorable manner. Yaobang, a liberal ex-government leader who had supported economic and political reform, had been purged (in 1987) by Deng Xiaoping for allowing the people too much freedom. Yaobang had been very popular with the people and the media due to his reformist positions. Cheng points out that it was a normal practice for students to demonstrate in response to the death of any leader, and it was generally tolerated by the Chinese government as a way of allowing students to `let off steam'. However, when the students (and city people) began to propose explicit demands for the government to liberalize its policies, Deng Xiaoping felt that they had overstepped their boundaries, and he viewed this insurrection as a direct threat to destabilize the government and overthrow the Chinese Communist Party. Moreover, Xiao-Di's appetite for more liberal policies was whetted based on his experiences studying in America. Specifically, in 1986 Xiao-Di leaves Beijing to attend Cornell University; while there, he becomes accustomed to the American way of life. In January 1989, after earning a degree in mathematics from Cornell, the twenty-two year old Xiao-Di returns to Beijing where he yearns for `American-like' freedoms.
As a backdrop to the Tiananmen Square Massacre (the main focus of the book) Cheng provides insight into China's rich and disruptive history. For example, Xiao-Di relates that when he and Lu were youngsters their maternal grandfather (who raised them) had recounted how he had survived three of Mao Zedong's disastrous programs (i.e., `witch hunts'):
* The Hundred Flowers Movement (1956-1957) - During this campaign citizens were unjustly persecuted for having views that differed from the official Chinese Communist Party line
* The Great Leap Forward (1958-1961) - This campaign comprised a national drive to make iron which resulted in a great famine and millions of deaths
* The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) - During this campaign, Red Guards (teenagers) persecuted teachers, writers, artists, and landlords resulting in the deaths of thousands (possibly millions) of Chinese people and excesses of societal chaos, as the Gang of Four (spearheaded by Mao's last wife, Jiang Qing) attempted to seize control of the Chinese Communist Party and the country at large.
Further insight to China's history is provided when Cheng recalls China's great Song, Han, Tang, and Ming dynasties, wherein the Emperor was known as the `Son of Heavens' and (right or wrong) was considered to be infallible. If anyone so much as questioned the Emperor's infallibility, he was punished, in which case his "role" was to receive his punishment with "respect, honor, and patience". This `cultural code of honor' may have accounted for the fact that although Deng Xiaoping had been purged twice by Chairman Mao Zedong (for opposing `The Great Leap Forward' and `The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution'), he had accepted his punishment and remained loyal to Mao. Further testing Deng Xiaoping's loyalty was the fact that his son Deng Pufang had been severely beaten by the Red Guards during `The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution' and thrown out a window (sustaining a broken neck), supposedly because his father was a "Capitalist Roadster". According to Cheng, Deng Xiaoping personally took care of his paralyzed son (who was wheelchair-bound) and, rather than blaming Chairman Mao, prohibited Pufang from ever discussing the events that caused his paralysis. Cheng infers that Deng Xiaoping continued to rely on guidance and advice from Mao Zedong, via the medium of his `dreams', even after Mao was long deceased.
This is a superb novel that is packed with history, adventure and emotion! This story provides deep insight into modern Chinese culture and customs. The writing is both succinct and clear. I thoroughly enjoyed this fascinating book!
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful.
An impressive and thrilling debut novel
By A Customer
The Tiananmen Square uprising of 1989 left in its wake scores of casualties and haunting images that aired again and again on international television. SONS OF HEAVEN, Terrence Cheng's first novel, is remarkable in many ways, but mostly, centrally, for its thrilling ability to imagine the life of the now famous (but still unidentified) young man who dared to step in the path of an approaching government tank.
Cheng gracefully interweaves three distinct points of view in a way that ultimately humanizes China's complex modern history. We are privy to the point of view of that young, skinny boy (named Xiano-Di in the novel), of Xiano-Di's brother Lu (who is a soldier in the army) and also, most daringly, of Deng Xiaoping.
The passages from Deng's perspective are gripping. Deng is a riveting character: he is a revealed as a complicated man, full anger, sadness, and humanity. With Cheng's portrayal of Deng, he manages to articulate the passion, motivation, and desire for freedom and power that fuels all revolutionary acts.
We should never forget the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Now that we have this impressive and thrilling debut novel, the powerful images from 1989 will haunt us anew.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
The Beast Called China
By Geri Bennett
Who was that young man who stunned the world as he stood in front of the tanks sent to put an end to the Tiananmen Square student demonstrations in 1989? Not only has Terrence Cheng given him a fictitious name, Xiao-Di, he has also created a family, a life and a history for him. But what is truly remarkable about this book is that Cheng has portrayed Deng Xiaoping, the leader thought to have ordered the military intervention, as a man struggling with his own ideals. Westerners, eager to side with the oppressed, have rushed to condemn human rights violations attributed to China's rulers without much thought to the making of the men they hold responsible.
The giant that is China has stumbled its way through the twentieth century irritated relentlessly by insatiable beasts gnawing at its parts. Under siege since the beginning of the century when Dr. Sun Yat-sen formed the Nationalist Party to overthrow the corrupt Qing Dynasty that collapsed in 1911, China suffered several tumultuous decades with power divided among warlords, nationalists, communists, and even Japanese invaders at various times. The Long March of the Chinese communists in the mid-1930's is deeply embedded in the psychology of the men who ultimately took power in 1949. Deng Xiaoping was one of those men.
He recalls the dreams of his own youth when he joined a trek of 6,000 miles in pursuit of a better life for China's peasants. Of the 80,000 people who began the Long March, only 8,000 survived to reach the caves outside of Beijing. He remembrs when, in the early stages of Mao's Cultural Revolution, he was denounced as a "capitalist roader" and subjected to "re-education." He muses on the fate of his son, Deng Pufang, who remains in a wheel chair, the result of a "fall" from a third story window while being interrogated.
Xiao-Di, recently returned from an American university where he was introduced to the concepts of freedom, is a reluctant participant in the demonstrations, having joined at the urging of his childhood friend, Wong. When Wong is shot by soldiers, Xiao-Di cannot believe that the soldiers would turn on their own people and impulsively resists the onslaught of the tanks. Aware of the fate that awaits him if he's caught, he becomes a fugitive.
The third central character, Lu, Xiao-Di's older brother, is an angry young man, once a member of Mao's Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution. He has found a home of sorts in the People's Liberation Army. To prove his loyalty and perhaps earn a promotion, Lu becomes instrumental in the hunt for his brother. He is a largely unsympathetic character until the end of the story, but Cheng does a fine job of helping us understand his dark side even though we don't like him.
In a society largely uneducated and with too many bureaucrats, where power can be a fleeting thing, the complexities of the situation in Tiananmen Square are thoughtfully presented in SONS OF HEAVEN. The ghosts of the past have found their voices and the story is compelling without superfluous additions. Sadly, no one wins in the end and the beast rumbles on.
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