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“ Mao and I regret how the Revolution abused and humiliated a national treasure like Ma Sicong.” - Zhou En-lai, 1975

The King of Violins

HOW CHINA’S MOST CELEBRATED VIOLIN PRODIGY BECAME AN ENEMY OF THE STATE.

The King of Violins is the heartbreaking story of China’s most celebrated violin prodigy, Ma Sicong, who composes his first concerto at the age of 12.

During his career, this gentle, dignified man composes 57 of the world’s best-known symphonies and concertos and performs in front of hundreds of sold-out audiences across the globe.

Chairman Mao Zedong declares Ma Sicong “a national treasure” and nicknames him The King of Violins. Soon, Chairman Mao’s brutal Cultural Revolution distorts the truth of Ma’s life and work. He is forced to wear a dunce cap, and is publically humiliated and physically abused by cadres of Red Guards as “a vile product of bourgeois thinking.”

Ma and his family make a breathtaking escape in the darkness to America. After Chairman Mao’s death in 1976, the real circumstances of Ma’s poignant, bittersweet life are buried in the pages of history by an embarrassed Chinese government. Eleven years later, Ma dies at the age of 76 in Philadelphia.

The King of Violins, written in cooperation with all of Ma’s remaining family members, and is the first politically balanced life story about this generous, conflicted musical genius.

EDITORIAL REVIEWS

A perfectly balanced symphony that honors truth and dignity. You'll feel as though you are sitting on Ma's shoulder as his complicated life unfolds.
- US Review of Books

Remarkable. The bittersweet story of Ma Sicong's dignified, often tumultuous life, and the way it was told, left me feeling I had met Ma--and was better because of it.
- Independent Book Review

The King of Violins is a must-read that will stay with you. It's filled with so many involving themes and surprising twists that you'll become engrossed trying to figure out what might be coming next.
- International Review of Books

Reader Reviews