Never Brushed, Never Shaved, Passed On STDs: What Mao Zedong's Doctor Wrote In Memoir

Few political figures of the 20th century loom as large as Mao Zedong, the founding father of the People’s Republic of China. Yet behind the larger-than-life image of a revolutionary leader, hailed for transforming China into a formidable world power, lay personal habits that were highly unorthodox and often shocking. These revelations came to light through his personal physician, Dr Li Zhisui, in the book The Private Life of Chairman Mao .

According to the physician, Mao Zedong never brushed his teeth in his lifetime. Instead of using a toothbrush, Mao preferred rinsing his mouth with tea leaves each morning. “A lion never washes its mouth, yet its teeth remain sharp," Mao is believed to have argued when doctors advised him otherwise. The result, Dr Li writes, was disastrous; his teeth