Reference
Reveiw by Dr. David Kenley
Born in the 1950s, Liang Heng experienced firsthand the twists and turns for China’s Great Proletariat Cultural Revolution. The son of an intellectual, Liang is an ardent supporter of both the party and the Cultural Revolution. Eventually, however, Liang’s own father is denounced by the Red Guards and Liang starts to question his faith in the party. Liang is a young teenager more interested in basketball and girls than communist ideology, a very sympathetic character for American teenagers. An easy read, Son of the Revolution has been used in high school classes for many years.
After the death of Mao in 1976, many writers and intellectuals began discussing their victimization at the hand of the government and its misguided foot soldiers, the Red Guards. In many ways, Son of the Revolution is a product of this environment. While you feel tremendous sorrow for Liang, he is nevertheless complex enough to engender classroom discussion. When using this in my own classroom, I use the following questions to stimulate discussion:
According to Liang Heng, who are the victims and who are the perpetrators of the Cultural Revolution?
Is the text sufficient to understand the Cultural Revolution? Which perspectives do you wish you had to supplement this account?
What particular aspects of the Cultural Revolution did Liang experience?
What is Liang's thesis? What are his assumptions?
Is Liang's story instructive in studying the Cultural Revolution? Is his experience unique? Is he an ordinary citizen?
Is Liang a believable character? Why or why not?
Has this book changed your view of Mao? How?
How did people get information regarding the top levels of government?
Could it be argued that the GPCR was actually several miniature revolutions rolled together? How do we classify the GPCR? Was it a political event led by Mao, a period of ideological adjustment, a public display of pent-up frustrations, or something else altogether?
For further information regarding the Cultural Revolution and the use of memoirs, see Education about Asia, volume 4.3 (Winter 1999). Younger students (fourth through eighth grade) may choose to read Red Scarf Girl, whereas more advanced students (honors high school students) may choose to read Spider Eaters or Wild Swans.
