History 342

Devine

 

Study Questions for Liang Heng, Son of the Revolution

 

 

  1. What was the purpose of the anti-Rightist campaign and other political movements the Communist Party launched?  How did they affect Liang’s family?  How did they affect personal relationships between the citizens of Changsha and, more broadly, across the entire country?

 

 

 

  1. What role did “Chairman Mao” play in the lives of young children in China? Do political figures play this same role in the United States? Why or why not?

 

 

 

  1. How had Communism changed China after “Liberation” in 1949?  How did the lives of both the average peasant and urban dweller change (for good or ill) as a result of the triumph of the Communist Party? 

 

 

 

  1. Does it seem that the Communist Party encouraged people to value equality or to strive to “get ahead?”  Overall, what qualities did the Party seem to value?  

 

 

 

  1. In hindsight, Liang is quite critical of the Communist Party, but clearly the Party (and Chairman Mao) commanded the loyalty of many Chinese (including Liang’s father). Why?  How did Mao and the Party manage to retain the loyalty of the people? 

 

 

 

  1. Why was the Party so concerned about unmasking “enemies?” Why was it important that the “enemies” confess?  Why were “intellectuals” generally considered “enemies?”

 

 

 

  1. What was the point of the Cultural Revolution? 

 

 

 

  1. What was the political agenda of the Red Guard?  Why did the Red Guard break into factions that violently opposed each other?  Why did many march into a hail of bullets knowing that certain death awaited them?

 

 

 

  1. Do you know people who would have made good members of the Red Guard?  What were these Red Guard members like? Why did they behave the way they did?

 

 

 

  1. Do you see similarities between Communism and other kinds of radical political movements – Nazism? Radical Islam? Fascism?  What differences do you see?

 

 

 

  1. What did the peasants think about Communism?  Did Liang find them to be good Communists?  Did the Communist political agenda further the peasants’ interests?

 

 

 

  1. Why and how did a “cult of Mao” develop?  (Recall that young Chinese men and women would give their lives just to catch a glimpse of the Chairman.)  Could something equivalent happen in the US?  Why or why not?

 

 

 

  1. Critics of Communism have often argued that the first thing the Party does is to discourage anyone from having an independent or private thought.  Is there evidence in this book to support this point of view?  Is this a fair criticism of Communism?

 

 

 

  1. Why did Mao send the intelligentsia to the countryside to become peasants?  What effect did Liang’s father’s experiences working with the peasants have on him?

 

 

 

  1.   What does the term “eating socialism” mean? 

 

 

 

  1.  What effect does “teacher Xia” have on Liang?