From Red Guard to Business Mogul：An Oral Biography of Kong Dan

　　Kong Dan was born in a Communist family. He was among the first batch of the educated urban youth in China who became members of the Communist party. He was a student leader at No. 4 High School in Beijing, commanding the Xicheng District Picket Corps to maintain social order in the 1960s, when the Cultural Revolution initiated by Chairman Mao Zedong resulted in massive chaos in the society.

　　He was later put in prison because of his participation in the Picket Corps and his parents were also being persecuted. He had been sent to the countryside to join the production team for “re-education”. He built his knowledge foundation by his hardwork and earned a Master degree in the economics discipline.

　　He had been the secretary of government officials, and senior management personnel of two state-owned enterprises, the Everbright Group and the CITIC Group, within which he devoted his talent to help tackle various problems.
Through personal interviews with Kong Dan, Mi Hedu compiled the biography of this legendary figure in the modern Chinese history, depicting how he went through the ups and downs in 60 years. His experience can be regarded as a reflection of the historical development and political reform in China back in the Mao Zedong regime.
 

作者簡介

　　Mi Hedu, with his ancestral home in Shaanxi province, was born in Beijing in 1952. He graduated from the First High School Affiliated to Beijing Normal University in 1968. At the age of 16, Mi was sent to work in the north of Shaanxi Province. Four years later, at the age of 20, he was enlisted in the 47th Army of the Chinese People''s Liberation Army.

　　He worked for some while as a worker after retiring from the army, and was admitted to the Renmin University in 1977 as an undergraduate student when the national college entrance examination was resumed. After graduation, he studied policies and modern history at a central government agency. Mi was also in the CPC Central Committee’s group on the reform of political system and the group on cooperation among different parties and political consultation.

　　Since the 1990s, he conducted studies at Southern Illinois University and Stanford University as a visiting scholar. Mi also engaged himself in the management of technical research and development. He now spends most of his time on research and writing, with a focus on the CPC’s united front, reform of the Chinese political system, the Xi’an Incident as well as the Red Guard movement.