The Shanghai Butterfly that Wouldn’t Die

In 1949, a newly established People’s Republic of China, led by the Chinese Communist Party and Mao Zedong, created a system aimed at controlling every facet of society. Rong Zhang was educated in their schools, fed their propaganda but eventually took flight and sought her own path forward.In her own words, Rong tells her story. As the daughter of physicians, she saw her family lauded with praise in the beginning, then bombarded with threats, looting, and traumatic public denouncements for their economic and social standing. Rong herself, as well as her siblings and millions of Chinese youths, were forced into re-education, witnessing and experiencing horrific events and enduring unimaginable hardship.Rong’s story is a reminder of China’s past, the atrocities committed, and a testament to those who fought for the right to education, freedom, life, and preserving art in all its forms.About the AuthorRong Zhang is a primary care physician and a clinical professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She attended Shanghai First Medical School (Fudan University School of Medicine), earned her PhD at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and finished post-doctoral training at Harvard Medical School. She volunteers at charity clinics, loves travel, adores writing, likes swimming, enjoys singing and plays multiple instruments.