Mao's Children in the New China: Voices From the Red Guard Generation (Asia's Transformations) [Paperback]

Yarong Jiang (Author), David Ashley (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415223318 | ISBN-13: 978-0415223317 | Publication Date: August 8, 2000 | Edition: 1

Around 18 million young Chinese people were sent to the countryside between 1966 and 1976 as part of the Cultural Revolution. Mao's Children in the New China allows some of them to tell their moving stories in their own voices for the first time. In this inspiring collection of interviews with former Red Guards, members of the first generation to be born under Chairman Mao talk frankly about the dramatic changes which have occurred in China over the last two decades. In discussing the impact these changes have had on their own lives, the former revolutionaries give a direct insight into how ex-Maoists view contemporary China, revealing an attitude perhaps more critical than that of most Western commentators. These poignant memoirs tell the very personal stories of how people from all walks of life were affected by both the cultural revolution and Deng Xiaoping's economic reforms. They cover subjects as diverse as marriage and divorce, the privatization of industry, family relationships, universities and the stock market. Mao's Children in the New China is essential reading for all those interested in learning more about the personal and social history of modern China.

Editorial Reviews

Review

...the stories provide a set of rich and diverse perspectives on the lives of these 'third generation' Chinese during Deng's and Jiang's reforms...in this sense, the book militates against the social science proclivity for easy generalization and thus could contribute usefully to complicating North American and Anglo readers' too-quick conclusion, that they 'understand' these events and the lives with which they are intertwined.--Joseph Schneider--Drake University-Journal of Asian Studies, May 2001.
Unlike many books in the West that have portrayed the Red Guard generation as either hapless victimis and pawns of Mao's political games or vicious instigators of chaos and class warfare, Mao's Children in the New China provides a more complicated, and more interesting, portrait... a very readable book, enjoyable for undergraduate students of China as well as scholars. Asian Affairs, Spring 2002, Volume 29, No. 1.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (August 8, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415223318
• ISBN-13: 978-0415223317
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #815,747 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars True representation of feelings during Cultural Revolution, May 24, 2001

By 

William M Harman (Laramie, Wyoming United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mao's Children in the New China: Voices From the Red Guard Generation (Asia's Transformations) (Library Binding)

This is a required reading for a class I am currently taking in Chinese Society. The honesty of the individuals interviewed within the context of this book is unquestionable. They have shown in absolute honesty the situations faced and the losses encountered during this time of the "Up to the Mountains and Down to the Villages" movement. This book will change your views on chinese society and it people........