The House of Yan: A Family at the Heart of a Century in Chinese History
By Lan Yan and Sam Taylor
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
Through the sweeping cultural and historical transformations of China, entrepreneur Lan Yan traces her family’s history through early 20th Century to present day.
The history of the Yan family is inseparable from the history of China over the last century. One of the most influential business leaders of China today, Lan Yan grew up in the company of the country’s powerful elite, including Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Deng Xiaoping. Her grandfather, Yan Baohang, originally a nationalist and ally of Chiang Kai-shek, later joined the communists and worked as a spy during World War II, never falling out of favor with Soong May-ling, aka Mrs. Chiang Kai-shek. Lan’s parents were diplomats, and her father, Yan Mingfu, was Mao’s personal Russian translator.
In spite of their elevated status, the Yan’s family life was turned upside down by the Cultural Revolution. One night in 1967, in front of a terrified ten-year-old Lan, Red Guards burst into the family home and arrested her grandfather. Days later, her father was arrested, accused of spying for the Soviet Union. Her mother, Wu Keilang, was branded a counter-revolutionary and forced to go with her daughter to a re-education camp for five years, where Lan came of age as a high school student.
In recounting her family history, Lan Yan brings to life a century of Chinese history from the last emperor to present day, including the Cultural Revolution which tore her childhood apart. The reader obtains a rare glimpse into the mysteries of a system which went off the rails and would decimate a large swathe of the intellectual, economic and political elite country. The little girl who was crushed by the Cultural Revolution has become one of the most active businesswomen in her country.
In telling her and her family’s story, Lan Yan serves up an intimate account of the history of contemporary China.
Lan Yan
Lan Yan was not allowed to enter higher education because her Communist family had been designated as counter-revolutionaries. In 1969, she was sent to a re-education camp in Henan, where her mother had been for a year. In 1977, the year after the Cultural Revolution ended, she enrolled at university. Exceptionally motivated, she was awarded grants to study at the most prestigious universities in Europe and the United States. In 1991, she joined the Gide Loyrette Nouel law firm based in Paris and became the first foreign woman to make partner. In 1998, she returned to China to run the firm's Beijing office. In 2011, Lan Yan joined Lazard as managing director to lead its Chinese activities. Today, she is the vice chairman of investment banking of Lazard and the chairman and CEO of Lazard Greater China (Beijing, Hong Kong, Taiwan).
Related to The House of Yan
Related ebooks
Remembering Shanghai: A Memoir of Socialites, Scholars and Scoundrels Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Last Days of Old Beijing: Life in the Vanishing Backstreets of a City Transformed Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5China Only Yesterday, 1850–1950: A Century of Change Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Soong Sisters Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Making China Modern: From the Great Qing to Xi Jinping Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Manchu: The Autobiography of Henry Pu Yi, Last Emperor of China Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5China to Me: A Partial Autobiography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Confusions of Pleasure: Commerce and Culture in Ming China Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Last Empress: Madame Chiang Kai-shek and the Birth of Modern China Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bullets and Opium: Real-Life Stories of China After the Tiananmen Square Massacre Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Chinese Paintings During The Song Dynasty: Famous Song Dynasty Paintings Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dream of the Red Chamber Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChina's New Youth: How the Young Generation Is Shaping China's Future Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLife and Death in Shanghai Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Red Sorrow: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Call to Arms Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Diary of a Madman and Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Xinjiang and the Modern Chinese State Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Boxer Rebellion and the Great Game in China: A History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What Remains: Coming to Terms with Civil War in 19th Century China Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Plum in the Golden Vase or, Chin P'ing Mei, Volume One: The Gathering Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Invisible China: A Journey Through Ethnic Borderlands Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Red Flower of China: An Autobiography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shadow of the Silk Road Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In Manchuria: A Village Called Wasteland and the Transformation of Rural China Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wish Lanterns: Young Lives in New China Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Country and My People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5From the Ruins of Empire: The Intellectuals Who Remade Asia Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Home is Not Here Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Political Biographies For You
Nelson Mandela Biography: The Long Walk to Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Story of the Trapp Family Singers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer: An Edgar Award Winner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A World Without Jews Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Legacy of Luna: The Story of a Tree, a Woman, and the Struggle to Save the Redwoods Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Enough Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mein Kampf Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Disloyal: A Memoir: The True Story of the Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Benjamin Franklin: An American Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life (Revised Edition) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Assassination Vacation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Fear: Trump in the White House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Profiles in Courage: Deluxe Modern Classic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Malcolm X: A Graphic Biography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Watergate: A New History Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5General's Son: Journey of an Israeli in Palestine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lincoln's Last Trial: The Murder Case That Propelled Him to the Presidency Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Putin's People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took On the West Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Washington: The Indispensable Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5History Will Absolve Me: Fidel Castro Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Art of Community: Seven Principles for Belonging Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The House of Yan
0 ratings0 reviews