Red Scarf Girl Book Report

While some people say that the Cultural Revolution was good in the sense that it gave peasants more rights, I think it was considered the to be one of the largest setbacks in all of China's history. I believe this because not only did the event lead to over a million people suffering from both physical and emotional abuse, but it also greatly reduced the amount of education being taught to children. The Cultural Revolution caused so much turmoil that even today the people of China are still recovering from the past events.

The Cultural Revolution was a movement started in 1966 by Chairman Mao (Mao Zedong). “It’s stated goal was to preserve true communist ideology in the country by purging remnants of capitalist and traditional elements from

Chinese society” (Cultural Revolution). To put that into easier words, the main goal was to get rid of old traditions/ideas and start new ones. The first way this was done involved requirements to be put into place. These requirements were called the four olds, meaning old customs, old culture, old habits, and old ideas. Red Guards were the people of authority that were set out to ensure these rules were being followed. They would do things from harassing people, to destroying ancient Chinese art. (Four Olds)
During the Cultural Revolution, physical abuse was used as the primary way to gain control over others.

In fact, in many cases, it led to such extreme measures that the victim would die. In the book “Red Scarf Girl” by Ji-li Jiang, we see many examples of the kinds of physical abuse used. Physical abuse was used on all ages of men and women, but a quote that stood out to me describes physical abuse to children. In this case, the author describes the labor-intensive work she had to do in the rice fields, stating “by mid-afternoon our backs seemed about to break” also adding “every muscle, every joint in my body was aching” (235). There were also plenty examples of when Jiang witnessed abuse to elderly, such as when “Old Qian knelt on the washboard” (110). Though physical abuse got Red Guards what they wanted, it was

unnecessary.
Within the first four chapters of the book, we were already noticing the use of emotional abuse not just from adults but also from children. For example, the kids in Ji-li’s class were writing da-zi-bao’s, they took it too far and included Ji-li’s name in one of them. It read “Let’s look at the relationship between Ke Cheng-li and his favorite student, Jiang Ji-li” (Jiang 49). It was so embarrassing and sad for Ji-li that it made her not want to go to school. To add to it, the Red Successors decided to single her out and pick on her family background saying things like “I know what her grandfather was. He was a landlord” (Jiang 58). It was hard for Ji-li to comprehend how in one day she went from being the smartest, most respected kid, to the most hated kid.
As the book progressed we started to see forms of property damage, such as when the Red Guards raided the Jiang household.

At this point, Ji-li wasn't only getting disrespected at school but also at her home. Ji-li was referencing to a Red Guard when she stated: “she threw the stamp album casually into the bag of things to be confiscated” (136). These stamps were Ji-li prize possession yet the Red Guards did not care and took them away because they were supposedly four olds. After the Red Guards were done with the search the house was a mess with clothes scattered everywhere. Ji-li’s house was not the only house raided, with no respect the Red Guards raided many houses that were also thought to have four olds hiding

inside.
In conclusion, from the start of the Cultural Revolution to the end, China changed greatly. Some say that it changed in a bad way while others claim it was in a good way. In my opinion, China did not change for the better. The Cultural Revolution only introduced many kinds of abuse leading to millions of deaths and decreased the amount of education being taught to children. I believe the book “Red Scarf Girl” by Ji-li Jiang provided me with a good understanding of the turmoil an average person in the Cultural Revolution had to bear. I would also like to add that think that this book should continue to be taught in schools, for I believe that a lot of people could learn many things about the history of China during the Cultural Revolution.