Talk:Zhang Yufeng/GA1

GA Review
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Reviewer: Alanna the Brave (talk · contribs) 23:47, 11 January 2022 (UTC)

I'll be reviewing this nomination. Comments to follow over the next few days! Alanna the Brave (talk) 23:47, 11 January 2022 (UTC)
 * Apologies for the wait -- it's been a busy past week. I'll aim to have comments ready by end-of-day Monday. Alanna the Brave (talk) 16:38, 16 January 2022 (UTC)
 * Don't worry. Take your time. Toadboy123 (talk) 22:32, 18 January 2022 (UTC)

Thanks for your patience! I've completed my review. "Zhang Yufeng" is an interesting biography, and it does meet certain GA criteria (it's stable, neutral, has relevant media, is broad enough and stays focused), but the article has a number of issues related to sourcing, accuracy of citations, clarity of prose, Manual of Style compliance (e.g., lead section) and media licensing. Many sections of article content do not appear to be supported by the sources immediately cited. It may simply be the case that these citations have been placed in the wrong sections of the Wikipedia article? I don't currently have access to your offline book sources, but they should probably be double-checked as well, just to ensure that those citations don't share similar issues to the online ones. I've listed more detailed comments below. The conclusion of my review is that this Wikipedia article needs more work before it will meet GA criteria, and I've consequently decided to fail this article nomination. Once the issues raised below have been addressed, however, I encourage you to re-nominate. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions. Alanna the Brave (talk) 02:25, 22 January 2022 (UTC)

Photos

 * I’m satisfied that the photo of Zhang, Mao and Nixon together is appropriately tagged/licensed on Wikimedia Commons, but the other photo of Zhang standing with Mao is missing a U.S. copyright tag (it only has a Chinese tag). Because Wikipedia’s servers are hosted in the U.S., all photos uploaded to the Commons must include a tag explaining why the photo complies with U.S. copyright laws (even if the photo is not American). If the photo does not comply with U.S. copyright laws, it should be removed from the article.

Lead

 * Lead section needs expansion. This section should not simply be a “definition” of Zhang Yufeng: it should summarize the key points of her biography. You could include a sentence briefly describing her place of birth, her early work as a conductor, and the circumstances of how she started working for Mao. You should also summarize her later years: Ultimately, what was Zhang’s influence/impact in Chinese politics? What did she do in her post-Mao years?
 * The lead section claims that Zhang was Mao’s mistress as well as his secretary, but this info is not clearly presented or cited anywhere in the article.

Early life

 * I have some concerns about level of reliable sourcing and accurate information here. This section is cited with a single source: a website (”Fantasy Read”) which provides secondhand access to text from a Russian non-fiction book by author Galenovich Yuri Mikhailovich. Although the book may be a reasonably reliable source (it’s published via traditional publisher, not self-published), it’s difficult for me to assess the reliability of this Fantasy Read website – can you verify that this is an accurate transcription of text from the book?
 * Additionally, the info currently presented in this “Early life” section does not match up with what the Fantasy Read source actually says. For example: in the Wikipedia article, Zhang’s birth date is given as 9 January 1945, whereas Fantasy Read states that Zhang was born in 1942 (no day or month specified). Fantasy Read also states that Zhang was born into a family with six children, not eight.

Personal Secretary of Mao Zedong

 * "their rapprochement took place" --> This term feels vague. Can you rephrase more clearly?
 * "Mao spent his free time surrounded by numerous seventeen and eighteen-year-old girls" --> What does this mean? Did he have an entourage of girls, did teenage girls simply make up the majority of his staff, or was he having some kind of sexual relationship with these girls (yikes)? This needs clarifying.
 * Manual of Style states that only quotes longer than 40 words (or multiple paragraphs) need to be formatted as block quotes. Otherwise, they should simply be incorporated into the main text, with double quote marks to indicate a quotation. These two quotes are too short to be formatted as block quotes: "Naive and shy, like many young Chinese women, she at the same time had a very strong character, was quick-witted and sharp-tongued. And most importantly - amazingly beautiful!" and "She [Zhang] literally becomes Mao's interface with the world, in fact the latter can no longer speak and she deciphers Mao's stammerings by reading his lips."
 * "As a result, he developed Lou Gehrig's disease, also known as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. At this time, the political weight of Zhang especially increased because Mao's speech became completely unintelligible due to illness, and only Zhang understood him well. From 1972, Zhang Yufeng helped Mao Zedong to eat and decided if he was able to receive visitors or not. By the summer of 1974, Mao's state of health had deteriorated so much that Zhang was able to understand him by the movement of his lips and gestures." --> The cited sources discuss cataract surgery and Mao’s ill health, but don’t specify anything about Lou Gehrig’s disease or the ways in which Zhang may have protected/translated for Mao.
 * I have some concerns about the Zhihu source -- is this reliable? Who is the author? As far as I can tell, Zhihu is an online platform for users to publish personal essays and exchange questions/answers. It's not clear that there is any type of editing oversight or fact checking (it's not a news outlet, official organization or traditional publisher).
 * "According to academic Perry Link, immediately after the death of Mao, it is believed that it was Zhang who prevented Jiang Qing from taking possession of his archives, which contained a large amount of compromising material on the entire top leadership of the Chinese Communist Party." --> The cited sources don’t specify what type of material Zhang was protecting (how do we know it was compromising material on the entire top leadership of the CCP?).
 * It's clear that Mao placed a lot of trust in Zhang. Why was this the case, especially if Mao had suspicions about Zhang being a Japanese spy? Also, how did Zhang feel about Mao? If the information is out there, it would be useful to expand on the significant relationship between Zhang and Mao.

Later life

 * "After the end of Cultural Revolution, she left Zhongnanhai and was transferred to the First Historical Archives of China. Later, she was transferred back to the Ministry of Railways due to personal wishes. Now, she is mainly engaged in the study of Mao Zedong's collection of books. She has compiled 24 volumes of "Mao Zedong's Collection." --> This info is not supported by the cited source.
 * "In 2004, Zhang disclosed some details of Mao Zedong's final years to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China." --> This info is not supported by the cited source.
 * The zgcxjsgz.com article source is currently inaccessible, and the link should be replaced with an archived version.
 * Zhang’s book "was reviewed by the Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party and Mao Zedong Thought Research Office for four months." --> I’m not seeing these details given in the cited source.
 * "extremely unsuitable for publication" --> this phrase is identical to the Google translate version, and should be placed in quote marks if kept.
 * "On 9 September 2016, on the 40th anniversary of Mao Zedong's death, Zhang Yufeng and her husband paid respects to Mao at his mausoleum. The couple reunited with Mao's son-in-law Wang Jingqing, daughter Li Na and grandson Mao Xinyu." --> The cited source appears to state that it was in 2015 (not 2016) that Zhang and her husband met with Mao’s family.
 * "Currently, Zhang together with Li Na, owns the restaurant Mao Jia Tai ('Dishes from the Mao Family Menu')." --> None of this info is supported by the cited source.

Personal life

 * "In 1967, Zhang married Liu Aimin. Liu was a guard at Zhongnanhai and later served as the director of Ministry of Railways. They married in accordance to instructions from Mao." --> None of this info is supported by the cited source.
 * "Their youngest daughter serves as gynecologist and obstetrician at a hospital in Beijing." --> The source cited does not state that the youngest daughter works in Beijing.