Becoming Madame Mao - Anchee Min [65]
She amazes Mao and the guests with her desire to learn. She is twenty-four years old and the fire in her chest is burning high. Her energy works its charm on some, but others find her naive and presumptuous. She is too excited to notice one way or the other. She witnesses the way Mao plays godfather to his army. She sees what she can achieve through the marriage—she is shown the very best example.
He tells the girl a story on the wedding night. A story that inspires him and teaches him the secret of ruling. During the Dynasty of Spring and Autumn a prince bought soldiers. To prevent their escape he brought in a tattoo man. The prince ordered the man to tattoo his name on both cheeks of every soldier. When the job is done the prince felt their loyalty was secured. He took the soldiers to a distant battle. Before the troops traveled far, the soldiers began to disappear. There was no way to trace them—the soldiers had bribed the tattoo man. The tattoos on their cheeks were so thin that they washed off.
It's the mind you ought to tattoo! my lover concludes when finishing the story.
I feel that my mind was tattooed at that moment. Otherwise how can I explain the reason I answer his every call? He instills himself—the voice of a god—in me and his nation.
The Book of Chang itself, she calls him.
By the time the guests leave the couple is exhausted. The floor is covered with peanut shells, sunflower seeds and cigarette butts. Mao doesn't ask his bride's opinion of the guests. He knows she is irritated by their manners. It's obvious that she can't stand it when they spit on the floor, stick their fingers in their mouths to pick out food while talking, and worse, fart shamelessly.
I am a dress made out of a verdict
— every thread is linked to a bloody crime
Mao makes his bride give up cleaning and takes her into the bedroom while singing an old opera aria happily.
Like a drought-land clam
I wouldn't open my mouth...
She is amused and joins his singing.
A mouse is given an assignment
to guard the grain storage
And the goat is put to watch the vegetable garden
— what a pleasurable thing to do...
12
JIANG CHING IS MY NEW NAME. It is a thoughtful gift from my husband. I am no longer Lan Ping—Blue Apple. The new characters have straight lines like a boat sailing in full wind— Jiang as River and Ching as Green. Jiang Ching summarizes a traditional saying: Green comes out of blue but is richer than blue.
I have parted from my old role. I come out of blue and enter the richer color green. I am a butterfly out of the cocoon, spring belongs to me. My name has become part of my lover's poetry.
There aren't any photographs hanging on my wall. No books or reviews either. No souvenirs. Not even a poster of me as Nora. It's not that I wouldn't like to be reminded of my old days, my new role simply demands a different setting. I face a different audience.
I need to color my history red. This is what gives one true rights in Yenan. My future enemies hold an invisible mirror. It is said to reflect my political "birth defects." In the mirror they see a demon who has come to steal Mao's essence. They have already begun a war with me by trying to block my marriage.
The rumors and false accusations begin to spread the day Mao and I wed. I have broken many hearts. During and after the ceremony, a number of comrades and our guests of honor, including my husband's ex-brother-in-law Xia Zhen-nong, begin to gossip about Mao's "declining health." It is loud. Look at the Chairman, he has come to depend on liquor to boost his energy.
I am beginning to realize that I don't stand much chance to defend