The role of Chinese women has always been underestimated. They are the proverbial iron fist in a velvet glove. They're the personification of the Daoist concept that water conquers stone. Water seems soft, but in the end it flows around all obstacles and wears away even the strongest stone. There's even a saying that the Cultural Revolution was really caused by the fact that the wife of Liu Shaoqi (Wang Guangmei, d.2006) was a lot more glamorous than the wife of Chairman Mao (Jiang Qing), and that Jiang really hated Wang because of it. It's also said that when Wang Guangmei appeared in public again at a Beijing Opera, everyone knew that at last the Cultural Revolution was really over. Amongst other things, Madam Wang joined the closest China has to a parliament. Her children still hold high positions in Chinese society.

Well, that brings me to today's news. Madam Zhuo Lin, widow of Deng Xiaoping, has passed away, aged 93. I don't know much about Zhuo Lin, but if I know anything about Chinese women, I know this. She was a lot more important in the history of modern China than anyone realizes. Let the men have face in public, and let them pretend to be in charge, and they'll do what they're told. Sometimes they won't even realize they're doing it, but that doesn't really matter. If I had to guess, I would say that the incredible resilience of Deng, and the way he successfully came back again and again from "outsider" status to finally become the most important man in China, can be credited to Madam Zhuo. The era of Deng Xiaoping has finally passed.