Last Boat Out of Shanghai: The Story of the Chinese Who Fled Mao's Revolution by Helen Zia

Overview

Last Boat Out of Shanghai by Helen Zia tells the story of the Chinese revolution under Mao’s rule. The book describes how this period created a refugee crisis and changed China’s position in a world split between communism and socialism.. This book presented chronological events from 1937 when Japan annexed a part of Shanghai, a famous war between Japan and China, commonly known as four years of Civil War. These events ended with the creation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. In this book, the writer named Zia deliberately portrayed the events of exodus and exile, which initiated the Chinese revolution. This revolution brought adverse impacts on the life of the people, specifically on the four characters' life mentioned in this book. The migrants highlighted in Zia's story were empathetic individuals, and Shanghai city proved to be one of the worst place for the. Shanghai, Shanghai, China’s most modern and populous city, stands at the center of the story. During this time, Shanghai was known for its mix of foreigners, crowded ports, opium dens, and busy markets. All of this existed alongside air raids, martial law, and residents from wealthier backgrounds trying to find safety wherever they could.

The writer presents many political ideas in this book that were leading factors of revolutionary war in China. The revolutionary war was basically a war between two political ideologies, Communism and Capitalism. This political division had divided the Chinese community into two sections. These political ideologies also gave birth to a communist political system based on opposite assumptions compared to the existing democratic system. The Chinese revolution of the communism system became successful due to Mao's ideas, and his supporters, who were actually in the numerical majority, who provided their support to the communist ideology. Moreover, the book pointed out that how the worsening societal divisions and Taiwan's refusal to provide shelter to the refugees created many horror episodes at that time for the Chinese people.

Political concepts:

This book highlighted that the emergence of new political ideologies marked the Chinese revolution period. These ideologies paved the way for the Chinese revolution. Mao, great leader of Chinese revolution, was greatly influenced by the communist ideology adopted first by Russia. He was also the follower of Lenin's work, the pioneer of Russian Communism. According to this book, this ideology brought a revolution in China because the Chinese wanted to get rid of their corrupt elite rulers and the upper class of that time, in economic matters unjustly treated the working class. Moreover, due to pathetic National government policies, the people gradually became poor. The Communist political ideology was based on opposite principles; thus, people started opposing capitalism's exploitative economy. The capitalist class had means of production. They ran the system of the country. Karl Marx's theory proves that the Chinese revolution was mainly a social effort against the capitalist economy (Saran, 2020). This revolution introduced a new political system to China, which is Communism. The Chinese political system is opposite to the Western democratic system. The acceptance of Communism in China was perceived as a direct threat to the democratic world. So, it is evident that the conflict between political ideologies and political systems gave birth to the Chinese revolution.

Pre-context

The author highlights the hardships faced by Chinese people during this period. Zia notes that Shanghai was once a vibrant trade hub and international free port in a semi-colonial era. After the collapse of Qing Dynasty and the civil war that ended in 1949, China’s global reputation declined. When the Communists took control of Shanghai, life went downhill for everyone. Foreigners, in particular, faced new restrictions and discrimination under the new government.

Zia also discusses the corruption within the Nationalist government and how life in Shanghai became quite difficult even under Chiang Kai-shek’s rule. She points out how the Communists repressed both foreigners and the upper class, and compares this with the poverty and violence caused by right-wing death squads that terrorized residents during the war. Many refugees believed they would not be able to return to China for the next thirty to forty years. Zia includes the example of Annuo's mother, who said, “We will only be gone for six months or a year at most. Then we will be back” (Saran, 2020). The book notes that the number of refugees during the revolution reached into the millions.

Zia explains that the Japanese attack on Shanghai in 1937 marked the beginning of serious efforts to undermine the Chinese Empire. She introduces real people in her book Benny Pan, a nine-year-old from a well-off family; Ho Chow; Bing Woo, an eight-year-old taken from her birth family; and Annuo Liu, the two-year-old daughter of a Nationalist leader. By telling the stories of these individuals, Zia illustrates how ordinary people managed to survive and maintain their dignity in the midst of chaos and conflict.

Post-context

Zia devotes the latter part of the book to describing the closing chapter of the Chinese revolution. On May 25, 1949, the People’s Liberation Army entered Shanghai, and they made Mao’s victory undeniable and rushed the panic across the city. As news of the advancing army spread, thousands of Shanghai’s residents especially those with wealth, foreign ties, or political connections, they scrambled to escape before the Communist takeover.

The exodus reached its peak when the last ship, General Gordon, prepared to leave Shanghai’s harbor in early 1949. For many, this ship represented a final hope for freedom and safety, carrying people away from the uncertainty and danger of the new regime. Zia brings this period to life through the personal stories of four main individuals, each representing a different aspect of the Shanghai diaspora.

Benny Pan, raised in a protected international settlement and educated in private schools, was largely unaware of the political risks his father faced as a police inspector for the British authorities. Ho Chow belonged to an aristocratic family that owned land and depended on rent from tenant farmers, but these privileges became liabilities under Communist rule. Bing Woo, Zia’s own mother, experienced displacement from a young age, first separated from her birth family because of poverty, then passed between households in search of stability. Annuo Liu was the daughter of a passionate Nationalist leader, and her family’s political connections put them in immediate jeopardy when the Communists gained power.

Zia’s narrative follows these families as they navigate fear, rapid social changes, and the heartache of leaving their homes behind. While Benny’s father chose to cooperate with Japanese authorities during the occupation, others endured suspicion, arrests, and the constant threat of being targeted by both the old and new governments. Through these individual stories, Zia paints a larger picture of loss, resilience, and adaptation among those who became part of the Shanghai diaspora (Wallace, 2018).

Analysis

After the Chinese revolution, many new political concepts have emerged in political science. International relation is the subfield of Political science. The Chinese revolution was an international event. If we view this revolution under international relations, it influences the international community. This revolution badly halted the international relation of China with the US and Western countries. It introduced a new political system to the world; a government setup based on Communism philosophy was a new dimension of politics. The strategic location influences the regional strategic situation if we analyze the subfield strategic study. So, the Chinese revolution enriched the new literature to political science in international relations and strategic studies. In the globe, many political theories and ideas have existed. Every country has a unique political ideology on which it develops its political structure. The US and other Western countries are pioneers of successful democratic systems and capitalist ideologies. They want to impose their ideology and political system on the world. In the 20th century, Mao introduced Chinese communism influenced by Karl Marx and Lenin to counter capitalism. According to their work, the bourgeoisie was exploiting proletariats for their interests. The capitalist economy and Monarchy were the leading causes of the Chinese destruction. Mao introduced Communism and Socialism in China to prevent the Chinese society from further collapsing. This ideology gave China a communist political system. The event of the Chinese revolution turned out successfully and can be marked as a historic movement in the political history of the world.  Moreover, to investigate the hardships of the Chinese community during the revolution period, we need to adopt a proper research methodology. The author explains the refugees' condition based on his assumptions, as he hardly found four real people, two boys, and two girls, for investigation purposes. The new research may investigate the revolutionary period circumstances that led to revolutionary wars and the current world problems. By relying on secondary data sources like famous political authors' books and published material of that time, we will collect extensive literature on this topic. Furthermore, with the help of compare and contrast model, we can compare historical events that led to revolutionary wars and contemporary events. Through this, we can predict the future of the political situations of a state and formulate a policy to prevent civil wars.

References

• Saran, M. (2020). Book Review: Last Boat Out of Shanghai by Helen Zia.
• Zia, H. (2019). Last Boat Out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese who Fled Mao's Revolution. Ballantine Books.
• Wallace, J. (2018). Last Boat Out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Fled Mao's Revolution.