China’s leader, Xi Jinping, is one of the most powerful — and least understood — political figures in the world. On Monday, Feb. 16, from 12 to 1:30 p.m., the University of Arkansas will host a guest lecture exploring how the life and legacy of Xi Jinping’s father, revolutionary leader Xi Zhongxun, provide critical insight into both China’s current leadership and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The event will take place in CORD 324 and is sponsored by International and Global Studies Program.

The lecture will feature Dr. Joseph Torigian, an expert on Chinese politics and author of The Party’s Interests Come First: The Life of Xi Zhongxun, Father of Xi Jinping (Stanford University Press, 2025). The book is the first English-language biography of Xi Zhongxun and draws on newly available documents, interviews, diaries, and periodicals to examine both the Chinese revolution and the early decades of the People’s Republic of China.

Xi Zhongxun (1913–2002) served the CCP for more than seven decades and worked closely with prominent leaders including Zhou Enlai and Hu Yaobang. He helped establish a Communist base area that aided Mao Zedong during the Long March in 1935 and later played a key role in initiating the Special Economic Zones that launched China’s reform era after Mao’s death. Xi also led the Party’s United Front efforts toward Tibetans, Uyghurs, and Taiwanese and, during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, initially sought to avoid violence before ultimately supporting the Party’s crackdown.

Through the life of Xi Zhongxun, Torigian’s work explores the extraordinary organizational, ideological, and coercive power of the CCP, as well as the human costs that accompany it. The biography offers both a sweeping historical account and a deeply personal story of an individual struggling to balance personal convictions with the Party’s demands — a tension that continues to shape Chinese politics today.

The event is free and open to the public, and lunch will be provided. Additional sponsors include Asian Studies, and the Department of History.

Attendees are encouraged to register using this link https://cglink.me/2uB/r398272