Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution

Average Rating:
4.772725
22 Reviews
Categories: , , , , , .
TitleRed Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution
Publication TypeBook
Year of Publication1998
AuthorsJiang, Ji-li
Number of Pages320
PublisherHarperTeen
Abstract

Reading level: young adult or grades 5-9

"Ji-Li has written a compelling memoir which reveals her gradual disillusionment with what she had been taught to believe about the Chinese communist government. A highly successful student, Ji-Li's life begins to unravel during the Cultural Revolution when her family wants her to turn down a chance to be trained by the government as a gymnast. Self-centered at first, the effects that propaganda have upon the lives of people she respects - including her own family - expand her concerns beyond her own. A unique yet universal coming-of-age story. A 1998 Parents' Choice® Gold Award." (text taken from Amazon)
URLhttp://www.amazon.com/dp/0064462080

Supplemental Contributions

Members of the community have contributed the following materials as supplements to Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution.

Title Attached Files Contributed By Contributed On Link

Red Scarf Girl: Middle School Reading Guide & Questions

Attached is a Reading Guide and Questions with page references for the 2008 paperback version of the book. Please feel free to alter and amend...

1 Angie Stokes 5/18/13

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Instructional Unit for PRC: 1949-1970 (Red Scarf Girl)

This instructional unit address Chinese history from 1949-1970, focusing on the establishment of the PRC, the Great Leap Forward, and the Cultural...

1 Amy Liberatore 4/19/12

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Average Rating:
4.772725
22 Reviews

Reviews for Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution

5

Posted By: Theresa Doerfler

Posted On: January 12, 2020

Theresa Doerfler
10th grade English teacher
Oakland Catholic High School

Review of Red Scarf Girl

Red Scarf Girl is appropriate for 9th or 10th grade readers (though it could certainly be used for middle grades). It was first published in 1997, by Ji-Li Jiang, who was born in 1954, grew up in Shanghai during the Cultural Revolution, and came to the United States in 1984, at age 30. Jiang now works as a writer and consultant who promotes cultural exchange between Western countries and China. There are some interesting video interviews with her available on YouTube.
Red Scarf Girl is a memoir, so it is a fascinating look at what it was like to grow up as China underwent great changes. Jiang’s child-like enthusiasm for the revolution, her faith in Chairman Mao, and her fear for her family (who had been landlords prior to the revolution) are infectious. As David Henry Hwang mentions in his Foreword, Ji-Li’s story makes her readers “experience the Cultural Revolution on a gut level.” Through the eyes of a child, readers come to understand the impossible choices facing young people at the time: “To slander a good teacher, or be labeled an enemy of the people? To reveal the location of a forbidden document, or risk its being discovered by the Red Guards? To betray [one’s] parents with lies, or ruin [one’s] own future?”
At my school, we use Red Scarf Girl as one of our choice books that is a starting point for a sophomore research paper. The idea is for a student to get immersed in another way of looking at the world and then find a global issue to research. I think students could consider a wide variety of world issues with Ji-Li Jiang as a guide and source of inspiration: they could consider the importance of education, social class, ideas about loyalty to family or government, immigration (when and how does a family leave a beloved home country?), conformity vs. individuality and personal freedom, stress and anxiety among teenagers, or even bullying (the way a “crowd mentality” can cause people to lose empathy and mistreat one another). This memoir evokes great empathy for the idealism of the revolution and can raise questions about what is an ideal form of government or an ideal way for human beings to exist together on this planet.

5

Posted By: Nevenka DePasquale

Posted On: January 6, 2020

Nevenka DePasquale
Academic Support Teacher
Oakland Catholic High School

Red Scarf Girl is a wonderful and insightful story and a perfect book for middle and high school readers. The main character Ji-Li Jiang deals with very typical 12-year old issues such as striving for academic excellence, competitiveness, peer pressure, bullying and acceptance. On the other hand, through the protagonist’s everyday struggles, the reader learns about life in communist China during the cultural revolution with its impressive propaganda and ideology that is incredibly oppressive to so many who do not fit the mold.

Ji-Li Jiang is eager to prove how dedicated she is to excel in everything so she can be one of Mao’s perfect followers but on her way to achieve that she faces the truth of rejection by her peers, school leaders and even some of her neighbors because of her family who comes from a wrong class (landowners) prior to the change of governments. Not only do her attempts leave her rejected in school but also put her family in danger while they are under a watchful lens of cruel government representatives.

As Ji-Li Jiang goes through internal conflict of family loyalty and pursuing her dream of being a true communist, she learns how little freedom there is in her surrounding, how oppressive is the ruling class, that there is very little trust in society where she lives.
This book is a great tool to teach students about the communist ideology and the conflicting system it created in China but also with any other country under this kind of government. It can be used in history classes but also in English classes as it offers a different perspective of life and truth.

Finally, this book brings memories of my own young childhood during the socialist regime in former Yugoslavia. I was a red scarf girl who wore a white shirt, a red scarf, blue skirt and a military style hat with a stitched red star. I was the girl who was told that our leader expects only excellence from me and that socialist and communist ideals of living for the common good and rejecting individualism where the only way to live. Luckily, just as Ji-Li, my family told me the real truth of the oppressive system that eventually died and freedom was born.

5

Posted By: Aida Marissa Smith

Posted On: March 2, 2019

A. Marissa Smith
American Public Librarian University System
Librarian

Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution is a true story. In the book, Ji-Li Jiang, recounts her experience of living through the Chinese Cultural Revolution as a pre-teen. Ji-Li was faced with difficult decisions about loyalty to her family or country. Her entire family dealt with extreme hardship.

The book begins as Ji-Li is finishing middle school and the start of the Cultural Revolution. At first the changes it brings appear to be for the better, but as time progresses Ji-Li sees that things are not so simple. Her family becomes a target of the people and she is forced to choose between renouncing her family and supporting the revolution, or siding with her family and facing economic and social consequences.

The book’s epilogue fills in the time after the Cultural Revolution to the present. Ji-Li eventually moved to the United States along with most of her family. Her grandmother stayed in China.

Written for the “young adult” audience, Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution, does a good job of introducing young readers to the Chinese Cultural Revolution in an age-appropriate manner. It is a title on the ALA Notable Children’s Book List and would be an excellent supplement to middle school or high school courses studying Chinese History.

5

Posted By: Melissa Curtiss

Posted On: January 5, 2019

Melissa Curtiss
Grades 6,7, & 8
Social Studies
Harts PK-8

The book is an excellent source of information on the Chinese Cultural Revolution. I believe the novel could be used in classrooms from grades 6 and up. I choose to use the audio version of the book The Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution was narrated by Christina Moore. I have many students with lower reading levels, so this helps them keep up with class discussions. My students seemed to respond better to the audio plus no funding for a class set. This book covers a variety of emotional and physical trails of a young girl in her teens. On the surface it’s an interesting history lesson, but then it also teaches social lesson on the affects of rumors and bullying that many students can relate to worldwide. Students also get a lesson on how political correctness can destroy families just as much as rumors. I loved the book because it allows my students to make the connection that life is hard regardless of where you live. Also, that you must choose wisely in decision making.

4

Posted By: Maura Doyle

Posted On: January 12, 2018

Maura Doyle
Oakland Catholic High School
10th Grade World History II

The story of Jiang Li in the Red Scarf Girl is one that is relatable and applicable to lessons on China for many age groups. This autobiographical book tells the story of the author's struggle and daily life in China as they experienced the cultural revolution. The initial naiveté of the author is effective in showing the dramatic changes in her daily life without notice. The novel is relatable to students, especially in an emotional moment where Ji Li is forced to choose between wanting to please Mao's communist officials and her allegiance to her family and father. Her choices result in additional suffering for her and her family.
 
The book is a useful teaching tool at a variety of ability levels. The reading level is simple and is acceptable for both Middle School and High School students. For High School students the book will be an easy read, but that in no way negates its value. There are many different angles to approach this book in the classroom during a unit about China, the Cultural Revolution, or even the study of Communism.

In a unit on the Cultural Revolution, this book is a natural supplement. It provides narrative context for mindset of the Chinese Communist Party. It mentions many concepts of the Cultural Revolution that can be further explored by students, including: Red Guards, four-olds, da-zi-bao, etc. The book provides one perspective on these terms, so I would suggest that students conduct research to develop a more thorough understanding of these ideas.
 
In my sophomore World History class we study Communism and we study China. Students learn of the Cultural Revolution, but this book brings alive the real life applications of Communism in China. As a teaching tool, this book works as both a study of the Chinese Cultural Revolution and as an examination of the core philosophies of communism.

This book is useful in studying Communism because it provides many examples of behaviors and values that the Chinese government thought to be essential to Communism. It also provides frequent commentary and examples of the downfalls of Capitalism. It would be useful to have students mark examples throughout the text that illustrate Communism and Capitalism and discuss those moments.

I think when using this text in the World History Classroom as a study of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, it is important to acknowledge that this book is representative of one story and one perspective. It should be combined with many other primary and secondary accounts of the events to deepen and enhance the narrative. However, this story will provide emotion and relatability, where other sources may not.

I find units are most valuable when its themes can be extracted and applied to the current day. For my students, I would ask them to consider the themes of this book as they reflect on government and power. I would make connections to the Chinese government today and ask them to find similarities and differences between key government aspects then and now.