Which of the following best explains how the historical situation in which Li Zhisui wrote his biography of Mao Zedong influenced Li’s assessment of the experience of the Great Leap Forward?


Answer A: Writing in the United States years after the events he described, Li Zhisui is free to offer his honest opinion, without fear of retaliation from the Chinese government.


Writing a biography of his former national leader, Li Zhisui is trying to portray Mao’s policies from a loyal and sympathetic point of view.

Answer B: Writing a biography of his former national leader, Li Zhisui is trying to portray Mao’s policies from a loyal and sympathetic point of view.


Writing in the 1990s in the context of a deindustrializing United States economy, Li Zhisui is skeptical of the value of China becoming an industrial nation under Mao’s rule.

Answer C: Writing in the 1990s in the context of a deindustrializing United States economy, Li Zhisui is skeptical of the value of China becoming an industrial nation under Mao’s rule.


Answer D: Writing many years after the events he describes, Li Zhisui likely misremembers many of the actual details of the experience of Chinese industrialization under Mao’s rule.