title: The Bitter Sea: Coming of Age in a China Before Mao
author:  Charles N. Li 
description: Adult/High School&mdash;Li was born in 1940 to a harsh and punitive father and an emotionally distant mother. Hyperactive and curious, the lonely little boy was forbidden to go outdoors, and his only companion was his kindly nurse. When the political power shifted, Li's father was imprisoned and the family sent to live in a disease-infested slum. Yet Li was happy there, running wild with a gang of boys. His newfound freedom was short-lived, and he was sent to an eccentric but caring aunt in Shanghai, where he had to learn a new dialect, was taunted by classmates, and found himself at odds with the academic expectations. With the fall of Shanghai to the Communists, Li went to his parents in Hong Kong, where his father had sought refuge after prison. Li's education included expulsion, abusive homeschooling, and a middle school where he excelled. Finally, Li's father, in an attempt to ingratiate himself with the Communist party, sent his son to a brutal reform school. The fiercely independent Li failed the final exam and realized that he had been manipulated by his father and the school. Returning home, he succumbed to depression and "vulgar materialism" before coming to accept his heritage and his father. This candid memoir by an engaging and sympathetic narrator will be of special interest to students of politics and history.&mdash;<I>Jackie Gropman, Chantilly Regional Library, Fairfax County, VA</I> <BR>Copyright &copy; Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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  Table of Contents
  
  
  [Title Page](dummy_split_001.html#filepos308)
  
  
  [Copyright Page](dummy_split_004.html#filepos4714)
  
  
  [Dedication](dummy_split_005.html#filepos9021)
  
  
  [Preface](dummy_split_007.html#filepos9451)
  
  
    
  
  
  [CHAPTER 1 - The Singularity of China](dummy_split_010.html#filepos24929)
  
  
  [CHAPTER 2 - The Kowtow Question and the Opium
  War](dummy_split_015.html#filepos86456)
  
  
  [CHAPTER 3 - From Preeminence to Decline](dummy_split_019.html#filepos140609)
  
  
  [CHAPTER 4 - Mao’s Continuous Revolution](dummy_split_026.html#filepos218643)
  
  
  [CHAPTER 5 - Triangular Diplomacy and the Korean
  War](dummy_split_030.html#filepos267621)
  
  
  [CHAPTER 6 - China Confronts Both
  Superpowers](dummy_split_036.html#filepos348267)
  
  
  [CHAPTER 7 - A Decade of Crises](dummy_split_041.html#filepos422923)
  
  
  [CHAPTER 8 - The Road to Reconciliation](dummy_split_046.html#filepos471704)
  
  
  [CHAPTER 9 - Resumption of Relations: First Encounters with Mao and
  Zhou](dummy_split_050.html#filep