Publisher: Harper Collins, NY (1997); Hardcover, 285 p.
Ages: Upper Grades (9-12) Lexile: 780
Geographical Setting: China
Time Period: 1966-1968
This book was read in my son's 7th grade ELA class this last quarter. (I read what my kids read in class just to keep abreast and be able to help with questions. It also makes for great discussions that then lead to my other kids wanting to read the book.) I'm really glad they read it. It opened their eyes to how others are treated, even children their own age, how people in lead positions can abuse that power, and how governments are different. It's unfortunate that many of Ji-Li's lines about what happened to her over 50 years ago still happens in China and elsewhere around the world.
Summary:
This is the story of Ji-Lii as she takes the reader through two years of her life during the start of China’s Cultural Revolution. When Mao Ze-dong decided to start the Cultural Revolution in the late 1960s, most of the Chinese citizens were on board with it, especially the younger generation. However, the reality was that their everyday freedoms were slowly being taken away and the younger generation ‘brainwashed’ by Chairman Mao’s sermons. Heartbreak and destruction were everywhere, as homes were raided, the elderly were beaten and forced to work in the streets, and children were constantly pressured to denounce their parents, family, and ancestors. All this was done in the name of one person’s beliefs for advancement.
Ji-Li writes about all the struggles she and her family goes through once her community finds out that her grandfather was a landlord. Even though he had died when her father was young, the family can’t ‘get away’ from their ‘black’ class status. Because of this she had to be ‘reeducated’, was sent to the country to work in the rice fields, and her father was arrested and forced to ‘attend’ struggle sessions where he was constantly insulted, beaten and ‘asked’ to confess to ‘crimes’ he hadn’t committed.
It’s scary to see the parallels to the political issues then to what today’s world faces. “It was only after Mao’s death in 1976 that people woke up. Our leader had taken advantage of our trust and loyalty to manipulate the whole country.” (p. 266)
Powerful & Thought provoking Quotes:
“Chairman Mao told us we would never succeed at building a strong socialist country until we destroyed the ‘Four Olds’ {old ideas, culture, customs, and habits} and established the ‘Four News’.” (p. 21)
“The world had turned upside down. Now it was a crime for students to respect teachers. I couldn’t keep calm.” (p. 36)
“Well, you know the old saying. ‘The wheel of fate makes a full turn every sixty years.’ It’s their turn now.” (p. 146)
“They use psychological pressure.” 'Leniency to those who confess, and severity to those who resist’.” (p. 175)
“He is being remodeled through labor. We have evidence that he committed a serious counterrevolutionary crime. But he is very stubborn and refuses to confess.” (p. 189)
“I was totally confused. I had only wanted to break with all those landlords in my family, not with Mom and Dad. Would changing my name mean breaking off relations with them?” (p. 215)
“To us Chairman Mao was God. He controlled everything we read, everything we heard, and everything we learned in school. We believed everything he said. Anything bad had to be the fault of others. Mao was blameless.” (p.265)
“This is the most frightening lesson of the Cultural Revolution: Without a sound legal system, a small or even a single person can take control of an entire country. This is true now as it was then.” (p.266)
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| Members of the Red Successors paint da-zi-bao (propaganda posters). These were used to attack and humiliate people. |
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| Rice patty farm, similar to where Ji-Li was sent for a few weeks. |
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| A member of the Red Guard saluting to Chairman Mao. |
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| Chairman Mao Ze-dong |
Little Green by Chun Yu. Written from the point of view of a ten year old, complete with a curriculum guide. (Grades 5-9)
Snow Falling in Spring by Moying Li. Describes her life spanning 10 years from the age of 12 to 22. (Grades 9-12)
China’s Son by Da Chen. Adapted for young readers, this memoir is about how the author dropped out from school because of his ‘family’s crimes’, but then turned his life around after the Revolution. (Grades 9-12)
My Name is Number 4 by Ting-Xing Ye. A teenager’s perspective of how life was for her family. (Grades 9-12)
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. Although not in China, this has many parallels. A graphic novel memoir about the author’s childhood years in Iran during its Revolution from 1979 to 1984. (Grades 9-12)
Fiction Read-A-Likes:
No Knives in the Kitchen of this City by Khaled Khalifa. The story of a single family’s lives in Syria under tyranny and the disintegration of society between the 1960s and 2000s under tyranny. (Grades 9-12)
My sister keeps pushing me to read this book. :) She is a 7th grade ELA teacher and just did this book with her class, just like your son’s class! I honestly do not know very much about the topic of the book so think it would be informative to read for me. It seems like it is great for connecting middle school aged children with a person their age, thinking about what is going on in that time, how it affected them, and how it relates to events in the world today. All of your links to learn more about this cultural revolution and Mao Ze-dong seem like good resources for educators looking to connect more information with the text. I’ll have to check this book out!
ReplyDeleteIt was a great and pretty fast read. I didn't want to put the book down. There were a few places where I felt she repeated herself, but for kids this is good as it emphasized the seriousness of the situation. Before reading this, I had no idea the extent of the 'Cultural Revolution' and what it entailed.
ReplyDeleteI definitely recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn more about China. It's unfortunate that it parallels what is happening today still.