NPR's Book of the Day 'Fly, Wild Swans' weaves Jung Chang’s family history with the history of China
Feb 24, 2026
Jung Chang, bestselling author who chronicled three generations in Wild Swans, discusses why she wrote Fly, Wild Swans after her mother’s failing health. She reflects on her family’s experiences under Communism. She recounts research into Mao-era policies and the backlash she faced. She shares why she chose not to return to China and her concerns about Xi’s direction.
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Sequel Born From Mother's Final Illness
- Jung Chang decided to write Fly Wild Swans after watching her dying mother over an iPhone because she could not return to China in person.
- The book continues the family story and updates China’s recent history, motivated by her mother's illness in 2023.
Mother's Communist Faith Turned Into Suffering
- Jung Chang recounts her mother's early communist involvement driven by witnessing her own mother's suffering as a concubine.
- Her mother joined the underground before 16, later endured denunciations, torture, and stood by Jung Chang's father during the Cultural Revolution.
Famine Funded Mao's Military Ambition
- Jung Chang attributes the Great Famine (1958–61) to Mao's export of food to pay for military industrial purchases abroad.
- She links that catastrophe to later political moves: party revolt then Mao's Cultural Revolution as revenge and consolidation.
