Lin Zhao was a poet and journalist who was arrested as a political dissident during the Mao Zedong regime in China. She stands as the only known Chinese citizen to have openly and steadily opposed Mao鈥檚 communism, an opposition rooted in her Christian faith. After her arrest, she dedicated her time in prison to writing letters and poems, sometimes in her own blood, in opposition of the regime.
The first non-fiction retelling of her story is captured in Duke professor Xi Lian鈥檚 book: 鈥淏lood Letters: The Untold Story of Lin Zhao, A Martyr in Mao鈥檚 China鈥� (Basic Books/ 2018). That book has since inspired the musical composition 鈥淓legy,鈥� from composer Lu Pei, which will make its in North Carolina this Friday, March 29 at Duke University鈥檚 Goodson Chapel.
Host Frank Stasio speaks with , author and professor of world Christianity at Duke Divinity School, and , professor of theology at Duke Divinity School who will perform the piece on piano, along with three members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
