The Secret Piano: From Mao's Labor Camps to Bach's Goldberg Variations

by Zhu Xiao-Mei

I was not about to spend my life playing the piano for children’s ballet classes. I was going to leave China, one way or another.

Prelude, a piece composed by Huang Anlun.

My other friends said the same thing: “You have to love your country. Stay here.” I did love my country, but I felt like it didn’t love me.

“The bridge is back there. You’re in Hong Kong. You’re free.”

Beethoven’s Opus 111, which he considered to be the single greatest work in the entire piano repertoire.

To see down to the bottom of a lake, the water must be calm and still. The calmer the water, the farther down one can see. The exact same thing is true for the mind—the more tranquil and detached one is, the greater the depths one can plumb.

Whether in the Variations or elsewhere, there are very few rests in Bach.

What is special about the Goldberg Variations is that it calls on every human emotion, every feeling.

The Chinese believe that life begins at forty.

thanks to you, I once again became a human being.

One who is skillful in using men puts himself below them. (Laozi)

For the first time, I was confronted with the truth that we all try to hide from: one day, we all pass away.

I had experienced everything—except for happiness and peace—but I didn’t think that they were within my reach.

Music gave us back our humanity. It offered us a glimpse, far off in a corner of the sky, of the possibility of spirituality.

Music brings people together, in ways that politics or religion cannot. It instills a powerful love of humanity that allows you to overcome every hardship. When you play music, you give of yourself unconditionally—and this is my definition of love.

When I play, I try to speak to people, to tell them something, to show them the beauty of a work, to move them. Having an audience is crucial for me. Some of my fellow artists assert that they play for themselves rather than for an audience. I take the exact opposite approach: my goal is to share with others.

Success in itself is nothing. Once you have achieved it, the most difficult task still lies ahead—mastering yourself.

Dalian, an intellectual and cultural wasteland.

The world needs to reflect on this lesson of the Cultural Revolution: to ensure peace and the future of the world, the absolute first priority is education.