In 1949, Mao wrote “Farewell, Stuart,” which was later included in Chinese middle school textbooks and had a great impact in China. Deep down, Mao felt uneasy about it and made a special trip to Hangzhou to see Stuart.

Mao’s arrival stirred Stuart’s departed soul. He floated before Mao and spoke softly: “Runzhi, how have you been all these years?”

Mao replied, “It has been more than sixty years since I said, ‘Farewell, Stuart.’ Yet we could not truly part. Now we meet again. It must be Heaven’s will.”

Stuart said, “Though I left China in body, my heart remained in China. I left unwillingly, forced to go. When I arrived in Washington, I was deeply depressed and soon fell ill. Within three months, I suffered a stroke and was partially paralyzed. I lived alone, unable to care for myself. Fortunately, my former secretary in China was a good man. He took me into his home, and his whole family cared for me for thirteen years, until my death.”

Mao listened with sympathy and said, “You suffered greatly.”

Stuart continued, “Before I died, I told my secretary I had two wishes. First, that the Ming dynasty vase Zhou Enlai had given me be returned to China, as it was a Chinese cultural relic. Second, that my ashes be sent back to Peking University, to be buried alongside my beloved wife. Let my soul return to Beida—my heart has always been inseparable from it.”

Mao comforted him, saying, “I understand your feelings.”

Mao then shifted the topic to the Chongqing negotiations in 1945. He said, “At that time, you acted as a mediator and as an elder. You were seventeen years older than I, and everyone respected you. You cared deeply for China, speaking earnestly and working tirelessly, urging me and Chiang to reconcile and build the nation together. When I invited you to dinner, you insisted on bringing Chiang as well, hoping we could speak frankly and form a coalition government. But at that time, I was determined to seize national power myself. With Stalin’s encouragement and the transfer of large quantities of weapons and equipment in the Northeast, my ambition only grew. The peace talks were handled perfunctorily until they faded away. If I had listened to you then, the civil war could have been avoided, and so many sacrifices would not have been made.”

Stuart replied, “I stood in the middle, with no personal ambition, only doing what I could. Later, I realized there was nothing more I could do. I could only watch as one side won and the other lost. When you won, we accepted it and hoped to establish diplomatic relations with you.”

Mao said, “Yes. In April 1949, after we took Nanjing, the Soviet mission withdrew south to Guangzhou. Only you remained in Nanjing, hoping to negotiate and recognize our new government diplomatically. We were somewhat tempted. We sent Huang Hua to meet you; there were several talks, and some progress was made. You wanted to come to Beijing to negotiate directly. Zhou Enlai and I were both willing to meet you. But we hesitated and lacked confidence. In the end, when Stalin agreed to provide aid, I announced the policy of ‘leaning to one side,’ completely aligning with the Soviet Union. You were helpless and disappointed, waiting in vain for months.”

Stuart said, “Yes. I kept waiting for arrangements to go to Beijing. But by late June, when you publicly announced ‘leaning to one side,’ the U.S. State Department saw no hope. You stopped contacting me and ordered me to return to America before July 25. I was reluctant to give up and delayed my departure, hoping for renewed contact. But there was none. The State Department sent another telegram, ordering me to return by August 2. So I left Nanjing on August 2.”

Mao said, “You made every final effort. Your persistence was admirable.”

Stuart continued, “After leaving China, I stopped in Okinawa and made a statement expressing readiness to establish relations with China. I still had not given up. When the State Department learned of this, they criticized me, saying, ‘They have already said goodbye to you—why are you still speaking?’ They placed a ‘gag order’ on me. It wounded me deeply.”

Mao said, “Though you left, your heart never did. You always cared for China.”

After a pause, Mao said, “If we had listened to you and established diplomatic relations with the United States, China might not have become completely closed off and aligned solely with the Soviet Union. Later, we realized that was foolish. In fact, Stalin had ambitions of his own; the United States did not. You genuinely wished China well.”

Finally, Mao said, “I once wrote ‘In Memory of Norman Bethune,’ which became one of the required ‘Three Old Articles.’ Now I wish to write another piece, ‘In Memory of John Leighton Stuart,’ to stand alongside it. Canada had Bethune; America had Stuart.”

Stuart replied, “I was pleased to learn that in the final years of your life, you received President Nixon on his visit to China and met with him, breaking more than twenty years of deadlock and opening relations between China and the United States. You accomplished a great deed. In Heaven, I found comfort in that.”

Hearing Stuart praise him for having done a great deed, Mao felt great joy and a sense of calm. He watched as Stuart’s figure slowly receded into the distance.

NEXT: 23. Zhang Xueliang (1901–2001)