Journal during the Culture Revolution

Character Intro

Zheqi was a middle school student when the Cultural Revolution in 1966. She and her classmates started to believe that their study system was dark which the knowledge they learned was controlled.

As the belief spread, Zheqi became a Red Guard as the others did. She started to destroy the Four Olds and was sent up to the mountain to be re-educated at the end.

After the revolution started to reach the end, she finally got chance to come back home. But she found she was isolated during all those years and it’s hard to find her life back. She was now a big girl who could not learn things as quick as before. She started to regret.

 

Continuity & Change

The government system stayed the same. China was still Chinese Communist party and although Mao died, there was still only one-party leader. Maoism kept spreading and being believed by the peasants.

On the other hand, the economic dropped dramatically and people killed each other that caused a huge population of death. Education was also stagnant that many people were not well educated. The Four Olds were all destroyed which meant many old things from the past were disappearing.