Red Scarf Girl: The Chinese Cultural Revolution

In 1966, the Chinese government and society changed forever when Chairman Mao started the Cultural Revolution in order to lead China into prosperity. The Chinese Cultural Revolution was the method in which Chairman Mao wanted to alleviate China from its dark past with things such as the Four Olds, or a bourgeois lifestyle. The effects of the revolution were perceived by many citizens as the necessary phase that would lead China into prosperity. As perceived in the novel, Red Scarf Girl by Ji Li Jiang, the revolution was by no means a peaceful movement in the eyes of Ji Li. The Cultural Revolution affected citizens in many different ways. Not only would it lead to the major shift in Chinese society, it would change the history of China forever.

As the Cultural Revolution begins to affect her family however, Ji Li begins to realize that Chairman Mao’s intentions was just another idea of smoke and mirrors. Towards the start of the revolution, Chinese students had began drawing da-zi baos, or Chinese propaganda. These propaganda posters were instilled to criticize the education system , and the citizens that were living a bourgeois lifestyle. JI Li began to shift her views on the revolution first hand when she realized that a da zi bao march was imposed towards her Aunt Xi-wen. According to Jiang, “ Her face was ugly with distress. She knew that no one would challenge anything we revolutionaries did to her. I did not want her to see me. I bent down and pretended to tie my shoelaces” ( Jiang, 47) . Many students from the revolution had shown their loyalty to the revolution by separating themselves from their families, however Ji Li’s refusal of supporting the protest against her own bloodline shows that Ji Li is beginning to see the harshness that exists in the revolution. Despite claiming to supporting the revolution, Jiang begins to repent her support overtime. The Jiang family are not the only people affected by the Cultural Revolution, Ji Li’s best friend An Yi suffered some serious consequences. An Yi had been living with her

The Cultural Revolution was by no means a peaceful movement, and unfortunately, it suffered some serious consequences. “ Some 1.5 million people were killed during the Cultural Revolution, and millions of others suffered imprisonment, seizure of property, torture or general humiliation”(History.com Staff). MIllions of people suffered the consequences of the Cultural Revolution. Despite some being innocent, those who were suspicious of being supporters of Four Olds or being a reactionary were victims of death, torture and imprisonment. The Chinese who fell to the revolution can be seen as a lost generation in which had these people had survived, the development of China may have been different. Within those casualties could have existed new ideas, new leaders, and people that could have made a difference in the world today. Not only did the Cultural Revolution suffer high casualties, it would cause a shift in the government that would become the opposite of what Chairman Mao had intended. Overseeing the aftereffects of the revolution, many Chinese citizens began to realize the corruption that existed within the government and wanted reform. When Chairman Mao died in 1976, the cultural revolution had officially ended and China began to reform itself again. According to Griffiths, “By 1978, Deng would be paramount leader, as he