How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"Heaven and earth are great, but greater still is the kindness of the Communist Party; father and mother are dear, but dearer still is Chairman Mao." (P.2)
Here's an example of the ideas that are told to kids from the time they are born. It's no wonder that Ji-li says everyone was brainwashed, right? Mao is supposedly even more important than family or heaven and earth. Whoa.
Quote #2
Every day since then on the radio we heard about the need to end the evil and pernicious influences of the "Four Olds": old ideas, old culture, old customs, and old habits. Chairman Mao told us we would never succeed at building a strong socialist country until we destroyed the "Four Olds" and established the "Four News." (2.7)
Early on, Ji-li introduces us to the central idea of the Cultural Revolution. It's more about changing minds than anything else, and people have to get rid of anything from the olden days. It's a pretty radical shift.
Quote #3
We were proud of our precious red scarves, which, like the national flag, were dyed red with the blood of our revolutionary martyrs. We had often been sorry that we were too young to have fought with Chairman Mao against the Japanese invaders, who tried to conquer China. (2.44)
Ji-li wishes she were around during the previous revolution so she could help out with it. Thing is, the big moments that make history are really tough for the people living through them… as Ji-li soon learns first-hand.
Quote #4
Who would have believed that our entire educational system was wrong after all? Seventeen years after Liberation, the newspapers told us, our schools were not bringing us up to be good red socialists and communists, as we had thought, but revisionists. (3.1)
Ever heard the phrase "history is written by the victors"? Basically, it just means that whoever's in power gets to tell the story of how things went down. So when Mao's in power, well, history gets a bit of a rewrite.
Quote #5
But I dared not ask to switch to the other group. I would certainly be criticized for letting my family relationships interfere with my political principles. I had no choice but to go. (3.27)
As soon as her classmates start taking the revolution into their own hands, Ji-li gets a glimpse of what it's going to be like in the future. This is what we literary types like to call foreshadowing. Ji-li will later have to choose between family and politics. Here, she takes the political route.
Quote #6
Red Guards were everywhere. Since the newspapers had praised them as the pioneers of the Cultural Revolution, every high school and college had organized Red Guards to rebel against the old system. (4.7)
Imagine suddenly having guards all around your school and city. It would certainly be scary, right? Especially since it all happens so quickly. This is all about politics. The Guards are sent there to keep a watchful eye on everyone and make sure they are following the new rules.
Quote #7
I felt tears welling out of my eyes. "Anyone who sees Chairman Mao is the happiest person in the world," the saying went. (5.33)
When Ji-li learns about someone meeting Chairman Mao, she's instantly green with envy. That's her wish. This tells us a lot about her attitude toward politics: Even though she's not comfortable with bad-mouthing a teacher, and she doesn't really get all of the new rules, she still follows Mao and everything the guy preaches.
Quote #8
Right at the entrance to our alley, where you could not help noticing it, stood the propaganda wall. It was tall and wide, covering the whole end of one building and looming over the street. Every time a new campaign started, a picture would be painted on it to promote the campaign's message. (7.1)
The propaganda wall is the place to put up new info about Mao's plan for the country. It's also a place where people are publically humiliated with da-zi-baos. Both of those reveal that it's used more to control people than to provide new political information. It's public and everyone can see it, making it the perfect place to keep people in check.
Quote #9
No matter what I did and where I went, the Cultural Revolution followed me. (9.5)
Sounds creepy, right? Ji-li's description kind of sounds like she's being stalked, and in some ways, she is. The Cultural Revolution isn't just about political parties or voting in an election; it's a way of life. It's like a ghost following her around, everywhere she goes.
Quote #10
It was full of red: red slogans, red posters, red armbands, and red flags. A huge poster of Chairman Mao in a green army uniform, waving to the Red Guards from the Tienanmen rostrum, covered almost an entire wall. There were posters of Chairman Mao's poems written in his own calligraphy. (15.5)
Fittingly, the Red Guard Committee Office is full of red—red posters, pictures, plaques, red everything. We know that red is the color of communism, so this makes sense. It's also really overpowering and in your face, much the same way the politics of the Red Guards are to the people.