The novel "The Embroidered Shoe" passed the Chinese censors' watchful eye even though it questions the Communist Party's position of power.
"Over the last 30 years, China has seen great political changes," said Zhang Baorui, the original author of the story that became "The Embroidered Shoe." "Today, many kinds of literature can be published as long as the content is clean," said Zhang, now a member of the China Writers' Association.
"The Embroidered Shoe" was originally a folk tale told in the late 1960s when book publishing came to a halt during Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution.
The novel tells of an attempted coup by secret agents from Taiwan. They are eventually found out because of their choice of footwear.
During the early 1960s, tensions with the Soviet Union convinced Mao that the Russian revolution had gone astray, which in turn made him fear that China would follow the same path.
Mao formally launched the Cultural Revolution in 1966. He shut down China's schools, encouraged Red Guards to attack all traditional values and publicly criticized party officials.
Too frightened to publish anything, Chinese writers passed their stories orally. Eventually, 300 of these stories were written and passed around in underground meetings. The manuscripts were repeatedly copied by hand.
After Mao's death in 1976, the new Chinese leadership admitted the Cultural Revolution was a mistake. The new publication, according to the Times, appears to indicate a new readiness to confront the more uncomfortable historical truths.
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