Yu Hua begins by describing Mao Zedong’s singular status and the immense reverence with which he was treated, especially during the tumultuous years of the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 70s. He paints a vivid picture of how Mao would grandly wave to the massive crowds assembled in Tiananmen Square during National Day celebrations, while the other top officials flanking him could only stand stiffly and clap. Yu Hua also recounts the famous incident of Mao’s swim in the Yangtze River in 1966, and how images of a shirtless Mao waving to the people were used as propaganda for years afterward.

Yu Hua then delves into his own childhood experiences of growing up in the Mao era and his early perceptions of Mao. He describes his elementary school classroom, where reverential portraits of Mao and other exalted communist leaders like Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin hung on the walls. As a child, Yu Hua fervently believed that China was the greatest country on earth for two reasons: because it had by far the largest population and, more importantly, because it had Mao as its leader while other nations did not. He recalls how he would dream of meeting Mao and felt that Mao was a constant paternal presence always watching over him and monitoring his actions.