Red Scarf Girl, by Ji-Li Jiang is a great insightful book about the Cultural Revolution in China by someone who experienced it. Jiang is a young girl during the cultural revolution preparing to enter middle school. Jiang was very smart and one of the top students in her class. She was well respected by her classmates, friends and the school community. However when the Cultural Revolution goes into full swing she documents her confusion as suddenly she is rejected, classmates want to avoid being associated with her and she learns about the history of her family and why the Communist government wants to punish them. However all Ji-Li Jiang wants is to be a good citizen and make her family and community proud. She finds herself in very challenging scenarios where she is put in position to prove her loyalty to her country by testifying against her own parents and family, or become an outcast.
Jiang's experiences provide great insight for global scholar students who want to learn about a first person experience into Communist China during the 1960s, the Cultural Revolution, Communist Propaganda and the result of a society that promotes spying and reporting on your friends, neighbors and family.
Below is a recorded presentation Ji-Li Jiang gave in 2001 about her childhood and book Red Scarf Girl. The video was recorded by C-Span and presented at the University of Virginia and is available through this link on Youtube.
Red Scarf Girl was a great book to read from the Global Scholar collection and is recommended for any student in the program, Freshman through Seniors. You can find the book in the MHS Library or public library as well.
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