A Madman And New Year 's Sacrifice

The setting is in Muji, China during the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s. The leader of the communist party at the time is Chairman Mao and ruled based on a Marxist model by the story mentioning the concrete statue of him in the center of the square. The author states that “the Cultural Revolution was over already, and recently the Party has been propagating the idea that all citizens were

The cultural revolution is a strange period in Chinese history laced with intense struggle and anguish. The cultural revolution mobilized the all of society to compete for all opposing factions that they belonged to (Ong, 2016). Mao mobilized the young people of society during a background of political turmoil, which helped Mao to mobilize the students in order to enforce his political legitimacy and ideas (Ong, 2016). Mao’s charismatic authority created his personality cult and most defiantly leant a helping hand in mobilizing the red guard movement (Ong, 2016) (Weber, 1946) (Andreas, 2007). No matter which faction of the red guard they belonged to, they all mobilized against their common enemy; the better off, upper class. (Ong, 2016). Multiple ideologies within the youth led red guard movement explain why the movement gained momentum and became incredibly powerful (Walder, 2009).

Throughout the book The Question of Hu by Jonathan D. Spence the Chinese man John Hu often has his sanity called into question due to several episodes where his actions appeared insane to a European from this era. Although the question of his mental state is never fully answered by the author it is clear that Hu’s oddities stem from more than just cultural differences. Of course, no human deserves to be treated the way Hu was treated in the insane asylum in Charenton, but Father Jean-François Foucquet would have benefited from hiring a different Chinese local as his copyist.

It seems every few decades the literary ground shifts. Romanticism and Realism dominated the latter 18th century well into the 19th century. Next came Modernism, arising in the 1900s. Soon after, postmodernism took stage in the 1950s. Now into the 2000s, authors have performed remarkable feats of literary creativity and diversity. Authors are evoking occurrences from the turn of the millennium—events and conflicts that are specific to the twenty-first century. The new forms, tropes and theoretical strategies in current literature have got literary critics asking: is there such thing as twenty-first-century fiction—a new type of novel that separates itself from the modernist and postmodernist novel in terms of themes, styles, and characteristics? This paper reviews ten scholarly sources that argue for and show examples of the emergence of the new literary movement of this century. This literature review can be used by scholars interested in the next step in literature theory and how it is being defined and debated among philosophers and critics.

The Chinese communist party had a great influence on the peasants, this sparked a sense of nationalism between the two classes this is shown in documents 1 and 2. Mao Zedong stated in document 1 that “peasants will rise like a mighty storm” and that “they will smash all chains that bind them and rush forward along the road to liberation”. Here Zedong’s tone is intimidating and determined. Zedong shows confidence in the peasants and their abilities

Even with her previous experiences at Beijing University and at Big Joy Farm, Wong still held some belief that the Chinese system wasn’t as bad as it was sometimes made out to be. This event proved to her that it was. “The enormity of the massacre hit home…Although it had been years since I was a Maoist, I still had harbored some small hope for China. Now even that was gone” (259). As a reporter Wong was able to view the progression of the protests in leading up to the massacre, and in viewing it understood that the Chinese people were much more independent than they had previously demonstrated over the past 50 years. She had continuously seen the Chinese people following what they were told between learning in school or with physical labor, yet this protest was one of the first large scale displays of the unacceptance of the regime by the people, and the government did not know what to do with it. But because of this, Wong was able to recognize that the people were not reliant on this way of life that they had previously been bound to, but truly could lead for themselves and take control. The massacre awakened Wong both to the reality that the government was not acting to benefit the people, and that the people were more than capable of acting for

Originally, Liang’s “parents were deeply involved in all the excitement of working to transform China into a great Socialist country” (4). Over a serious of unfortunate events, though, he became the child of a “Rightist’s cap” mother and a “Reactionary Capitalist stinking intellectuals” father (9, 51). Impacted by the shattering of his family and horrific bloodshed created by fighting, Liang Heng began to question the Cultural Revolution. He claimed that his “family had scarified so much… but it had given [them] nothing in return” (148). Liang Heng presents his shift in ideology to demonstrate that most Chinese were no longer in support of a Communist nation. His “troubles were common enough and anyone could see there was a discrepancy between the glorious words of the newspapers and [their] painful reality (232). Even Liang Heng’s father, after many years of devotion, found that he could no longer defend the Party’s policies after he experienced the ill-treatment of the peasants in the country

This memoir of Ma Bo’s sent shock waves throughout China when it was published and was even first banned by the Communist Government. This passionate story paints a clear picture for what the Great Chinese Cultural Revolution was really like. Many Chinese living today can attest to similar if not identical ordeals as expressed in Ma Bo’s story. The toils of being a young Red Guard in inner China were experienced by many if not millions. The horrors and atrocities were wide spread throughout the country, not just in Inner Mongolia. The experiences illustrated in Blood Red Sunset uniquely belong to Ma Bo’s entire generation of mislead Chinese. As expressed in the books dedication the Cultural Revolution

In Jan Wong’s entrancing expose Red China Blues, she details her plight to take part in a system of “harmony and perfection” (12) that was Maoist China. Wong discloses her trials and tribulations over a course of three decades that sees her searching for her roots and her transformation of ideologies that span over two distinctive forms of Communist governments. This tale is so enticing in due part to the events the author encountered that radically changed her very existence and more importantly, her personal quest for self-discovery.

The Sun of the Revolution by Liang Heng, is intriguing and vivid, and gives us a complex and compelling perspective on Chines culture during a confusing time period. We get the opportunity to learn the story of a young man with a promising future, but an unpleasant childhood. Liang Heng was exposed to every aspect of the Cultural Revolution in China, and shares his experiences with us, since the book is written from Liang perspective, we do not have a biased opinion from an elite member in the Chinese society nor the poor we get an honest opinion from the People’s Republic of China. Liang only had the fortunate opportunity of expressing these events due his relationship with his wife, An American woman whom helps him write the book. When

In The Man Awakened from Dreams, Henrietta Harrison describes the life of Liu Dapeng through his diary entries. Highlighting one man’s story allowed the author “to focus on the details of everyday life” in order to “see how social structures and ideologies interacted in practice” (7). Liu lived from 1857 to 1942 and began his diary in 1891, so information about Liu’s childhood and education is dependent on his memories from that time. Harrison depicts Liu as a conservative scholar and argues that his education and Confucian beliefs provided him opportunities even among the modernization changes of China. Harrison also explores the negative impact of modernization on rural areas by recounting the economic and

The slow descent into madness has long been a pertinent theme in both film and literature. An individual with the semblance of sanity finding themselves wrought by madness as their rational faculty diminishes and actions become sadistic is both fascinating and unsettling. Yet that unnerving element makes it alluring, because madness, as 19th-century romantic writer Edgar Allan Poe has suggested through his works, is inherent in all of us. We’re all a little mad. Poe uses this slow descent into madness as a catalyst in his horror theme prose-tale, “The Tell-Tale Heart” to instill terror.

Mao’s Cultural Revolution was an attempt to create a new culture for China. Through education reforms and readjustments, Mao hoped to create a new generation of Chinese people - a generation of mindless Communists. By eliminating intellectuals via the Down to the Countryside movement, Mao hoped to eliminate elements of traditional Chinese culture and create a new form Chinese culture. He knew that dumbing down the masses would give him more power so his regime would be more stable. This dramatic reform affected youth especially as they were targeted by Mao’s propaganda and influence. Drawing from his experiences as an Educated Youth who was sent down to the countryside Down to the Countryside movement, Ah Cheng wrote The King of

Lao Dao also realizes that he is not able to move up in class due to a lack of education for him. This furthers Lao Dao’s feeling of estrangement toward a society he’s apart of because he recognizes that he does not matter, nothing more than a rounding error. Dr. Hao is emphasizing that the lower classes of China do not feel significant to the progression of China because they weren’t given equal opportunity of education as the higher classes. Thus, this allows them to not feel united with the rest of China. I agree with Dr. Hao’s stance on education inequality because it sheds light on the complex problem of the detachment of citizens within a society which I believe to be true.

In the book, The Spiral Road, author, Huang Shu-min makes an observation during his stay in Lin Village. The comment ignites a counter-response from his counterpart, Party Secretary Ye. Little do they know, this comment ignites a debate between the writings of many authors accredited with thorough political knowledge. Alexis de Tocqueville of the 19th century had the most accurate insight on the relationship between human economic and/or and human liberty. The writings of the remaining authors also fuse together to form a generalized theory about the freedom of less-developed societies in China.