Red Flower of China: An Autobiography

Whenever I read an account of the Cultural Revolution I am amazed at the social chaos and the violence carried out by its participants. These activists consisted of youths, their ages ranging from junior middle school to college level. They formed a group that is essential in any attempt at understanding the events of this tumultuous period in modern Chinese history. Similar to other accounts of this period; "The Son of the Revolution", "Wild Swans", "The Man Who Stayed Behind", etc..., "Red Flower of China" attempts to explain how society in China during the late 1960's was turned upside down and shows how the Cultural Revolution left no one untouched by the string of terror carried out by over-exuberant youths who felt compelled to act on orders from a national leader whom they believed to be god-like. Armed with Mao Zedong thought, these youths, called the Red Guards, played a central role in the loss of humanity in China during this period. The author, Zhai Zhenhua, was herself a Red Guard. In the book she reveals a level of violence not usually displayed in other works on the Cultural Revolution. When the Cultural Revolution began in June of 1966, she was 15 years old. She tells of the chaos of that time around Beijing and her involvement in the search for counter-revolutionaries. The first serious act of violence that Zhenhua participated in was just the beginning of her involement in what the Red Guards called moral justice. "Towards the end of August 1966 beating people became a popular Red Guard tactic in Beijing. When I saw a Red Guard remove her canvas belt to beat her victim and saw his clothes tear and blood appear on his skin, I was afraid. However I was a Red Guard leader and a member of my school's Revolutionary Committee. In this Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution not only had I not been among those who led, I always seemed to fall behind. I felt unworthy. If by beating these people from the five categories (landlords, upper-class peasants, counter-revolutionaries, bad elements, and rightists) I could prove my political consciousness and my valour in the class struggle, I would do it. Thus, when that Red Guard left off, I removed my belt and learned to beat like her" (Zhai, p.96) Zhenhua goes on to say that her heart hardened and she became use to the blood. Her rationale at the time of the beatings was that they were the bad elements of society and deserved to be beaten. "I shouldn't feel sorry for them. In class struggle, either you die or I do" (Zhai, p.96). One of the victims that she beat did die. It was the only raid that she was put in charge of. The victim was a middle-aged lady, who had been a landlord before the "Liberation". During the house raid the woman would not answer any of the Red Guard's questions. Zhenhua thought that the woman was arrogant and ordered her soldiers to beat her. When they left the house the woman was covered in blood and was not moving. The next morning Zhenhua found out that t