Red Scarf Girl (rpkg): A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution

In 1966 Ji–li Jiang turned twelve. An outstanding student and leader, she had everything: brains, the admiration of her peers, and a bright future in China's Communist Party. But that year China's leader, Mao Ze–dong, launched the Cultural Revolution, and everything changed. Over the next few years Ji–li and her family were humiliated and scorned by former friends, neighbors, and co–workers. They lived in constant terror of arrest. Finally, with the detention of her father, Ji–li faced the most difficult choice of her life.

Told with simplicity and grace, this is the true story of one family's courage and determination during one of the most terrifying eras of the twentieth century.

Ages 11+

The book explains how harsh Communism was during the Cultural Revolution, and how so many people did everything and believed in everything that Chairman Mao did. Being in a rich family, she and the rest of her family were constantly criticized because of this and her 'bad' political background.

She explains the characters in the book very well (her family members, Chairman Mao himself, her friends, etc.) and really lets you get to know their personality. You're almost inside of the book, watching as the Red Guards are practically terrorizing Ji-Li, seeing her friends turn their backs on her, and listening to the hateful words that the government says about people's families such as Ji-Li's.

This is an excellent book, whether you know a lot about the Cultural Revolution or not. Ji-Li Jiang is really skilled in explaining what she sees, and will allow you to know what really went on with the Communist Party and the Cultural Revolution from the 1950s to the 1970s.


The Cultural Revolution -- a review by Charlie, age 10   March 6, 2004
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

Red Scarf Girl is about a memory of the Cultural Revolution. Ji-li Jiang is the main character. She also has a brother called Ji-yong Jiang and a little sister called Ji-yuong Jiang. She has a friend, An-Yi, who often helps her when she has a problem. Ji-li Jiang had a rich family. Being rich in China at that time could cause families to be separated. It could cause families who were rich five months ago to have to live in a cottage working on a farm, getting whipped by the farmers who owe the land they're working in. It could even cause them to be killed! Ji-li is aware of all of this, and is trying to keep her family safe.

This is not a fiction book -- it is a memory about what Ji-li Jiang thought about the Cultural Revolution. You might think that this book is a girl book; but it's really about how people lived in the Cultural Revolution. If you like humor, this is not the book you're looking for -- it has a little humor in it, but it really is a sad story. Nothing goes well in the story. All the cliffhangers keep the reader in the story to see what happens next. Not all chapters end with cliffhangers, but sometimes there is a cliffhanger in the middle of a page which make the reader read a lot faster to see what happens to the person or what happens next. This book is a really detailed story about how people lived during the Cultural Revolution.


A Chinese Heroine   January 4, 2002
Katie Panning (Rochester, NY USA)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

Ji-li Jiang, the writer and main character of the Red Scarf Girl, was a girl who grew up in China. The Cultural Revolution, started by Mao Ze-dong, began the year Ji-li turned 12 years old, in 1966. Her early life was joyful. Ji-li was respected because she was intelligent and she was trusted. However, soon she learns she is from a landlord family, which is one of China's Five Black Categories. Chairman Mao wanted all of China's Five Black Categories to be punished. This would include Ji-li Jiang. She then realized that some of her opportunities would have to be given up, like her not becoming a Red Successor or Red Guard because of her background. The Red Scarf Girl is a worthwhile read because it shows how Ji-li Jiang is a model hero. She is intelligent, mentally strong, and brave.
Ji-li was intelligent and was at the top of her classes. Throughout the book, Ji-li was the smartest student, had perfect test scores, and she was given the biggest opportunities because of her academics. Ji-li helped other students in math because she was the best in the math class. This was one of the honors given to her because she was intelligent. In addition, her perfect tests reflected how she was so dedicated to her studies. Early in the book, Ji-li was given the opportunity to be a Liberation Army soldier because she was intelligent, physically strong, and flexible. However, Ji-li could not be a Liberation Army soldier because of her family background. Ji-li was given many chances to succeed because she was intelligent and she used her gifts to go beyond what her family history limited her to. When she could not be a Liberation Army soldier, Ji-li kept on studying hard because later in her life, she might be given that chance once more.
Ji-li Jiang, in addition to being intelligent, was mentally strong throughout the Cultural Revolution. She went through many tough times, like when she went through reading a da-zi-bao about her and her teacher, Ke Cheng-li. During the Cultural Revolution, a da-zi-bao was a posted note that humiliated people by telling others what the accused person was charged with. The da-zi-bao was about how Ji-li Jiang was Ke Cheng-li's favorite student. During this time, Ji-li used her mental strength to get through her troubles. She did not take revenge upon the people who wrote this about her although she was the one who helped them through their questions and troubles in the classroom.
During the Cultural Revolution, Ji-li Jiang remained brave, in addition to being intelligent and mentally strong. Later in the book, Ji-li Jiang, along with other classmates, went to work on the rice farms as summer labor. Everyone had to work either in the factories or on the rice farms. At first, Ji-li choose to work in the factories so she could look after her family. Her father was forced to work in labor because he had performed a counterrevolutionary crime, which he refused to confess. A counterrevolutionary crime is a crime that is done against the Communist party. Ji-li's family did not see him for more than three months. Without her father, Ji-li had to go work. Her grandmother was too old to work in labor, and her mother had Meniere's disease. Meniere's disease causes one to be dizzy, weak, and nauseous. Ji-li's mother could not work under these conditions. Lastly, her younger sister, Ji-yun, and her younger brother, Ji-yong, were too young to be able to work in labor. However, a friend, Chang Hong, told Ji-li if she worked on the rice farms, she could work hard so the officials would overlook her family background throughout the summer. It was then Ji-li became brave and left her family to work in the rice-fields.
Ji-li was intelligent, mentally strong, and brave. She always tried to succeed, even when she was held back by her family history. Ji-li was mentally strong, even when she was humiliated among friends and neighbors. Lastly, Ji-li was brave, as when she left her family to work on the rice farms by herself. The Red Scarf Girl is well written. Ji-li Jiang's troubles allow us to know how hard it was to grow up in a politically oppressed family during the Cultural Revolution. She was a real life hero.


My Opinion of Red Scarf Girl   December 19, 2002
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

Red Scarf Girl was thought provoking and compelling book. The book is a memoir of one girl's experiences during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, a movement launched by the Communist government and its leader Chairman Mao, to purge China of people who did not follow the Communist ideals. At the start of the book the protagonist, a young girl named Ji-Li, is a Communist Party poster child. She believes in Chairman Mao and dreams of a career in the Chinese government. When she learns that her grandfather was a landlord (a group scorned by the government) she considers renouncing her family to follow the Communist party.
While reading Red Scarf Girl I often felt annoyed at Ji-Li because of her blind faith in the Communist party despite the horror going on around her, and I was impatient for her to come to her senses. Even so, it must have taken great strength for Ji-Li to write what she felt at the time because she seriously contemplated leaving her family, almost changing her name so she wouldn't be associated with them. Events of the Cultural Revolution are not always pleasant to read, but the book was hard to put down. By the end of the story I had gained a greater understanding and appreciation for the people such as Ji-Li who had to make those impossible choices. I thought that Red Scarf Girl was engrossing and memorable and I highly recommend it.