Red Scarf Girl *a memoir of the cultural revolution* (by Ji li Jiang, foreward by David Henery Hwang)

Red Scarf Girl by Ji-li Jiang

2007

Ji-li Jiang was 14 years old when members of her Revolutionary Committee pulled her out of class and told her that if she did not denounce her father in public , she would become an "enemy of the people "I was in such despair after they left . I didn 't know what to do " Jiang told . She was speaking about 1968 and the height of China 's Cultural Revolution Growing out of an internal struggle within the Communist Party , Chairman Mao Tse-tung and millions of his

most devoted followers sought in 1966 to revive the spirit of the revolution by stamping out traces of Western influence . In practice , that meant public humiliation and sometimes death for political opponents and better-off families

Jiang 's grandfather was a landlord and , despite his death years before the Cultural Revolution , his family suffered for his status . Jiang 's father was detained for long stretches at the Shanghai children 's theater , where he worked as an actor , and Jiang 's 74-year- old grandmother was forced to sweep the neighborhood alley twice a day as punishment for being a landlord 's widow . Jiang recounts the trials of those years in her 1997 memoir "Red Scarf Girl

Red Scarf Girl is a memoir that deals with the courage of a girl and her family when they are struggling to survive during Cultural Revolution that occurred in China in 1966 . According to Ji Li Jiang in the novel Red Scarf Girl , her family had to destroy their precious family heirlooms by painting over them . They also had to throw away priceless silk dresses , or be faced with awful punishments . In a word , Ji Li Jiang , the author , tells her story about the hardships that herself , her family and her friends went through , as well as the lessons that they learned over that period of time

Chairman Mao Ze-Dong , China 's leader launched the Cultural Revolution that was intended to break with the old and establish the new ' and which , as a cosequense , after all brought hardships to everyone . Many Chinese had to accustom to forgetting old ideas , old cultures , old habits , and anything that dealt with old ' China . The things that were referred to as old customs were called Four Olds . They had Red Guards to help rebel against the old system . They would search houses for any four olds . When they found something they would confiscate and destroy it

Ji Li Jiang was born into a family who used to be wealthy landlords that the Party did not like . Landlords were said to be awful men because they exploited farmers . They were enemies and were considered worse than criminals and counterrevolutionaries . A lot of people believed Ji Li 's father , Lao Jiang , was a rightist who attacked the Party and its socialism . This status caused Ji Li , her parents grandma , brother and sister to be denied certain opportunities

Ji Li Jiang was a girl that did well in school and did...