The Chinese president’s concept of power was forged by the suffering life of his revolutionary father, Xi Zhongxun.

Xi Jinping was 9 when his father was purged. In the early years of the Cultural Revolution, he, too, was persecuted and humiliated at struggle rallies, and he was incarcerated twice.

Xi Jinping was 9 when his father was purged. In the early years of the Cultural Revolution, he, too, was persecuted and humiliated at struggle rallies, and he was incarcerated twice.

During Mao’s 1966-1976 Cultural Revolution, which began as Xi Jinping entered his teens, militant Red Guards abused Xi Zhongxun at public-shaming rallies and, according to party accounts which ...

How his father’s travails defined China’s leader—and the country he rules.

He helped build the Communist base in Yan’an in the 1930s; initiated the Special Economic Zone reforms after Mao's death; led the United Front’s efforts in Tibet, Xinjiang and Taiwan; and was purged ...

Xi Zhongxun's own children learned different lessons about the meaning of their father's life. One of them very sadly killed herself during the Cultural Revolution. One of them apparently had ...

The more interesting story here isn't what Xi Jinping learned from his father, but what Xi Zhongxun tells us about the nature of the Chinese Communist Party in the 20th century.