Red scarf Girl

A little while after her twelfth birthday Ji-li Jiang found that her life had changed from everything she would have wanted to something she would have dreamed in a nightmare. Her story started in May. A liberation army dancer walked into her classroom and no other sound could be heard. After this moment, her life changed. The visit from the liberation army dancer inspired Ji-li's teacher to destroy four olds (old ideas, old culture, old customs, and old habits). This caused the writing of the da-zing-baos (written forms of propaganda) and Ji-li was humiliated because of the writing on the posters. The downfalls of the Cultural Revolution started to begin. The Cultural Revolution was a time of much confusion in China. The Red Scarf Girl by Ji-li Jiang illustrates the chaos of that time. Ji-li’s experiences during this time period led to her point of view changing. Ji-li starts the Cultural Revolution full of progressive thoughts, but this quickly turns to confusion, and leads to an important choice, something that impacts the rest of her life.Remember to bring 100 pennies

In the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, Ji-li is full of thoughts of moving forward in the revolution, and helping Mao’s work to succeed. She believes that she can make a difference in the world. Ji-li helps with the “Destroy the Four Olds” campaign, and is nearby when a shop sign is smashed for having a name that does not accept with the communist principles. This gives her a feeling of relationship with everyone there. But even as she was helping the revolution, her thoughts soon turned to confusion and frustration with the policies of the Communist party.

As the brightness of the revolution begins to fade, Ji-li becomes anxious with the rules of the Communist party. The Red Guards have been treating specific families poorly and Ji-li's family is one of them. People have been trying to get access to her family's secrets and this situation is the root cause of Ji-li's decision to