The Red Guard Generation and Political Activism in China

Nonfiction, History, Asian, China, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, International, Social Science, Sociology
Cover of the book The Red Guard Generation and Political Activism in China by Guobin Yang, Columbia University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Guobin Yang ISBN: 9780231520485
Publisher: Columbia University Press Publication: May 17, 2016
Imprint: Columbia University Press Language: English
Author: Guobin Yang
ISBN: 9780231520485
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Publication: May 17, 2016
Imprint: Columbia University Press
Language: English

Raised to be "flowers of the nation," the first generation born after the founding of the People's Republic of China was united in its political outlook and at first embraced the Cultural Revolution of 1966, but then split into warring factions. Investigating the causes of this fracture, Guobin Yang argues that Chinese youth engaged in an imaginary revolution from 1966 to 1968, enacting a political mythology that encouraged violence as a way to prove one's revolutionary credentials. This same competitive dynamic would later turn the Red Guard against the communist government.

Throughout the 1970s, the majority of Red Guard youth were sent to work in rural villages, where they developed an appreciation for the values of ordinary life. From this experience, an underground cultural movement was born. Rejecting idolatry, these relocated revolutionaries developed a new form of resistance that signaled a new era of enlightenment, culminating in the Democracy Wall movement of the late 1970s and the Tiananmen protest of 1989. Yang's final chapter on the politics of history and memory argues that contemporary memories of the Cultural Revolution are factionalized along these lines of political division, formed fifty years before.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Raised to be "flowers of the nation," the first generation born after the founding of the People's Republic of China was united in its political outlook and at first embraced the Cultural Revolution of 1966, but then split into warring factions. Investigating the causes of this fracture, Guobin Yang argues that Chinese youth engaged in an imaginary revolution from 1966 to 1968, enacting a political mythology that encouraged violence as a way to prove one's revolutionary credentials. This same competitive dynamic would later turn the Red Guard against the communist government.

Throughout the 1970s, the majority of Red Guard youth were sent to work in rural villages, where they developed an appreciation for the values of ordinary life. From this experience, an underground cultural movement was born. Rejecting idolatry, these relocated revolutionaries developed a new form of resistance that signaled a new era of enlightenment, culminating in the Democracy Wall movement of the late 1970s and the Tiananmen protest of 1989. Yang's final chapter on the politics of history and memory argues that contemporary memories of the Cultural Revolution are factionalized along these lines of political division, formed fifty years before.

More books from Columbia University Press

Cover of the book A Hedonist Manifesto by Guobin Yang
Cover of the book This Place, These People by Guobin Yang
Cover of the book No Country by Guobin Yang
Cover of the book The Diagnostic System by Guobin Yang
Cover of the book Broken Tablets by Guobin Yang
Cover of the book The Dawn That Never Comes by Guobin Yang
Cover of the book The Cinema of Hal Hartley by Guobin Yang
Cover of the book Metaphysics of the Profane by Guobin Yang
Cover of the book Abandoned to Lust by Guobin Yang
Cover of the book Gangs and Society by Guobin Yang
Cover of the book Plots by Guobin Yang
Cover of the book Programs to Reduce Teen Dating Violence and Sexual Assault by Guobin Yang
Cover of the book Taiwan Under Japanese Colonial Rule, 1895–1945 by Guobin Yang
Cover of the book News from Abroad by Guobin Yang
Cover of the book Special Effects by Guobin Yang
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy