Chapter 01 Xi Jinping’s Path to Rise (1)

Xi Jinping was born in Zhongnanhai, Beijing, in June 1953. His father, Xi Zhongxun, was a vice premier of the State Council. As a child, Xi boarded at Beihai Kindergarten and at the age of 7 enrolled in the Bayi School which was founded for the children of high ranked cadres of the CCP. In 1962, Xi Zhongxun was sentenced to imprisonment by Mao Zedong for supporting the writing of Liu Zhidan’s novel and his family was kicked out from Zhongnanhai to the Central Party School in the western suburbs.

That year, Xi Jinping was only 9 years old. It can be said that long before the Cultural Revolution, Xi’s family had already been reduced to a pariah in the underclass. His family was split up and he was ostracized by the children of the Red Second Generation because he was the son of a political victim, and no one wanted to hang out with their siblings, so he had no choice but to play with the children of the lower class, becoming one of their street thugs. Once he was sent to a juvenile detention center for group fighting in the street. During this time, Xi Jinping was a marginalized member of society, with no one to turn to and no one to depend on. He was lice infested and was not well mentally or physically. Xi Jinping’s experience at the bottom was similar to that of Qin Shi Huang Ying Zheng, who was sent to Zhao as a hostage, suffering humiliation and hardship. He not only tasted the bitter fruits of the Party struggle, but also dimly realized the philosophy of the Party struggle — the loser is the enemy, the winner is the emperor — such a political philosophy began to germinate in his mind, and eventually developed into his thicket of political struggle.

During the Cultural Revolution in 1966, Bayi school was closed. Xi was transferred to Beijing No. 25 Middle School. In the midst of social unrest, Xi rarely attended classes as his father had been imprisoned and he no longer belonged to the Red-second generation and could not join the Red Guard. In 1967, Xi Jinping was also dragged to the stage as a child to stand next to the “black gang” to accompany his father when he was struggled by the Red Guard. Xi Zhongxun’s wife Qi Xin also participated in the meeting and raised her hand and shout slogans “Down with Xi Zhongxun, Down with Xi Jinping”. I believed her mother’s behaviors deeply hurt his heart as a teenager. However, due to his low intellectual, he did not quite understand what issues his father had with Liu Zhidan and Gao Gang. Why a novel will get his father in trouble. He did not understand the power struggle within the CCP. Xi Jinping didn’t not hate Mao Zedong. He only knew that Chairman Mao was great, that everything was right and that it was right for Mao to imprison his father because of Liu Zhidan. He worshipped Mao, the Red Sun and never had the slightest doubt about Mao. For a while, he was sent to juvenile jail because of fighting in the streets with gang members. During this time Xi Jinping belonged to the margins of society with no one to turn to, growing lice on his body, was not very well mentally and physically. In 1968 he was sent to live in the home of his great aunt in Fuping, Shaanxi arranged by his father.

In 1969, Mao Zedong wanted the youth to go to the countryside, Xi Jinping was sent and settled in the Liangjiahe Brigade in Yanchuan County, Shaanxi Province. After a few months he sneaked back into Beijing and was detained by the police. He was then sent to a study camp where he was released after a few months. He was forced to return to Liangjiahe and continued to work in the communes. After returning to the village, he behaved more honestly and worked better. In the winter of 1974, Xi Jinpin was allowed to join the CCP. He was also made local CCP party secretary in the winter of 1974 because his father had been back to Beijing and regained his power in the CCP.

In 1975 Xi was recommended by the communes to enter Tsinghua University without passing any examination. He studied in the Department of Chemical Engineering and served as CCP party secretary there. During that period, he introduced his classmate Chen Xi to join the CCP. Chen Xi was later promoted to the Central Organization Department by Xi Jinping as Vice Minister.

In 1979, Xi Jinping graduated from the Chemical Engineering Department of Tsinghua University. He did not want to pursue career in chemical engineering. Relying on his father’s relationship with top senior officers in the central government of China, he was arranged by his father to work in the General Office of the Military Commission, becoming the secretary of the Deputy Minister of Defense Geng Biao. He entered the door for politicians.