4:59pm | Q&A

Q: Would you say Mao was a good writer? A: "Well, the young Mao was."

Q: How does a good writer go down hill? A: He stops writing … he wrote great stuff when he was working in Hunan … he wrote obsessively thorough work when he was young … when he applied to the Communist Party, he actually wrote that he wanted to be a journalist or teacher... After 1957 he didn’t really write anything … there’s no explanation for the cultural revolution because he didn’t really give one."

4:44pm | Q&A

Q: What inspired you to write this book? A: "I wrote it so I could understand myself Mao's continuing influence … Mao is very relevant to today’s China and I didn’t want to write a straight business book, here you have the business as well as the history which is important here."

4:35pm | Q&A

Q: How do you think Mao would react to the current political situation in China? A: “We don’t say Class struggle any more—we say 'wealth gap.' If you look at Mao’s most basic quest, it was bring China back to its former glory in a Chinese way … if he saw China’s position on the world’s stage he would be happy with it, if he saw the wealth difference, he would be less happy.”

4:33pm | Problems

Cranley, “Do you expect problems in China because of your criticism of Mao?” Melvin, “I don’t expect the book to be translated into Chinese, so hopefully not.”

4:30pm | Chapters One of the key questions of the talk is, how does Mao help us to understand China? Melvin explains that one way to use Mao to understand China is through the important of his philosophy and world view. “Their [China] sense of victimization from foreign imperialist and the way China sees the outside world comes from Mao. It’s not only from Mao but based on it.

Melvin says the second way to use Mao is his emphasis on history. “We can then better understand China by what they say their history ... The CCP even has a Wisdom Committee … We also talk about the high turn over of expats in Shanghai, image how much knowledge is lost.

Finally, and less well known, is that Mao stressed the “unity of opposites.” He said, “There can only be change if there’s contradiction.” Melvin explains that, “If there’s capitalism and communism, they will challenge each other and at least one will become stronger.”

4:28pm | You Dog “Mao was an anti-dogmatist but at the same time he became one and used it to his advantage. … in the early 50s he became too involved in his own idea … he thrived in chaos not in the bureaucracy …this worked in revolution but not after so he became more and more entrenched in his ideas.”

4:27pm | Adopt Cranley, “How much of the Western basis for Mao’s thoughts are acknowledged in China?” Melvin says that it is to because, “his Communism always argued that you need to adopt Marxism on the local level--his was an inclusive theory … and it can change along the way and be fine.”

4:25pm | Mao’s History Melvin educates the audience and says that the official party line, that Mao’s thought is “the crystallization of collective thought of the communist party and the people.” But that “Mao failed because he failed to follow his own though.”

4:23pm | The Next Generation "This generation was brought up with Mao," says Melvin. She differentiates between Mao's more cultural and then his political thought, and explains that, "This generation, in school, isn't taught Mao's political thought, it's more his 'Poor Man’s Guide' … he’s still in the popluar culture which a lot of us miss."

4:21pm | A Manager Cranley, “He’s known as the great manager?” Melvin, “He wrote a lot, he just didn’t follow it.”

4:20pm | Chapters “Each of the eight chapters in you book have a theme,” says Cranley. “How did you decide which of Mao’s theories were in the book?” Melvin explains that “I had to pick and choose a lot … that’s what Mao did to Marxism and I applied the same philosophy to the book.” Melvin surprised some of the audience by explaining that she also used some of Mao’s pre-Marxists writings, which are not available in China. She says the she, “rooted out a lot of the more violent aspects and I showed Mao the journalist, the salesman and the marketer. He was a great marketer, sold Communism to China.”

4:18pm | Background Cranley asks Melvin about US reaction to her book. Melvin says that “people in the US don’t really understand unless they deal with China.” She also says that, “Chinese business executives actively study Mao’s thought today …for the past few years, there have been a lot of books about Mao’s business and management strategies in Chinese bookstores …some of them [Mao’s ideas] are on gorilla war tactics, management, criticism and self-criticism.” Melvin suggest that this is, “Something interesting and something to be aware of.”

4:15pm | Mao Cranley starts the talk with an anecdote, “During the Party Congress last fall, I went to the AmCham and observed a possible contradiction” he said between the Chinese party line and actual Chinese business practices. Cranley said that to people at AmCham, Mao’s irrelevant. Melvin comments that his influence still remains strong in China.

Melvin says, “Mao really still matter, you can see it in the system …the Communist Party we have today was founded by Mao, he built the system. He remains very relevant. The current generation was educated under Mao … The next generation will be the last to be educated under his ideas.” Melvin concludes that, “He will be important as long as there is a Communist Party, at least as long as there is a party.”

4:10pm | Welcome Although there are a few brief technical difficulties, the crowd quiets as Patrick Cranley introduces Shelia Melvin and her newest book The Little Red Book of Chinese Business, which came out at the end of last year. This is its debut in China. Cranley reveals that Melvin came to China just over 20 years ago.