Red Sorrow: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution

by Nanchu

"Red Sorrow . . . reminds us that it is people who make history." —Atlanta Journal-Constitution

At the outbreak of the Cultural Revolution, thirteen-year-old Nanchu watched as
Red Guards burst into her home and arrested her parents, who were tortured and jailed. Made an outcast, left to care for herself and her younger brother, she witnessed her native Shanghai fall prey to Mao's "red cyclone." She was eventually sent to a military-labor camp on the Sino-Soviet Border, where one million of her generation were relocated, and there suffered privation, unspeakable hardship, and abuse by party officials. Not until schools reopened was Nanchu able to escape the camp for a university, but there she discovered that the revolution in the classroom had not ended.

In this unforgettable memoir, Nanchu delivers a gut-wrenching portrayal not only of her own family's travails but of a society thrown into upheaval by the struggle for power at the highest levels of the state, scarring an entire generation. Red Sorrow is essential reading for anyone interested in China and the struggle for freedom and human dignity.

Genres: Nonfiction, China, History, Memoir, Autobiography, Biography

300 pages, Paperback

First published July 9, 2002

Reviews

[Jennifer Fang · Rating 3 out of 5]

Red Sorrow is a personal memoir written by Nanchu, where she demonstrates the subversive revolution Chairman Mao initiated in China --- the Cultural Revolution. This 10-year program, which set youths and workers against broadly designated "class enemies" has changed the morality of most Chinese citizens and triggered many internal conflicts within the country. The author watched Red Guards publicly torture and humiliate her parents, while she had to defend for herself as a thirteen years old girl and her younger brother. However, in order to survive through the revolution, she then became a Red Guard herself and was sent to a rural village to perform debilitating physical labor and forced to belie her beliefs in order to survive. After she was admitted into Chairman Mao's university, she realized the ironical truth where the political values were valued more important than learning. She was among the first wave of former Red Guards who returned from the countryside to go to college, this unique experience has shaped her personality and encouraged she to write about this life journey. Her childhood memory about her parents’ death and suffer also gave her morality and correct values toward the communist’s beliefs.

Nanchu's book is about how she had to do those "chores" as a teenager. This identity gave her bravery and her perspective in the story from a first person point of view helped us to comprehend the theme about cultural revolution. The narration from her perspective does not only reveals the brainwashing activities but also exposes people’s struggle under Mao’s control and enforcement. She included many details that indirectly exposes the life of her generations in the historical background. The lack of food, clothing and education forced them to gain maturity. I would give it a rating of three point five out of five, I think this book has significance for us to come closer to the historical truths about the cultural revolution, however, I was not really engaged in the story line because I am not really interested in historical novels and some of her use of language seems confusing to me. I would recommend this book to anyone that has interested toward Chinese history and the rights in humanity.

[Mikey B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very poignant autobiography of a young teenage girl who was swept into the tide of Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Young people – the Red Guards – were encouraged to revolt against the purported capitalist bourgeois values of institutions like colleges and universities. Education was downgraded; the Red Guards vigorously promoted manual labour in the countryside.

The author, like millions of other teenagers, went to work in a remote area. She worked seven days a week under atrocious conditions. They were ill-fed on a steady diet of cabbage soup and the like, badly clothed, slept in poorly heated huts, and the young women were sometimes sexually molested.

After a few years of this and suffering through a horrible accident in which she was hospitalized, she made her way back to her home city of Shanghai. She attended college, hoping to be educated and learn the English language. The first English language words she was taught were (page 188):
“Long Live Chairman Mao
Long Live the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution”.


Throughout her adolescent years as a worker and student, she was always expected to lead a monastic existence. All energy was channeled to worshipping the deity of Chairman Mao – or said otherwise, sexual energy was sublimated for the adoration of the state and the reading of Mao’s books. Couples holding hands in public could easily be denounced. It was an Orwellian state where one feared being denunciated or was expected to denunciate others. One would suffer the consequences if a parent or sibling behaved incorrect politically – suspected of being a “capitalist roader”.

The author is forthright in how she too was an active participant in the Cultural Revolution. She was a true believer and felt ashamed of her parents for their former “bourgeois values”; they had taught at a university.

She embarked slowly on the road to skepticism in the mid-1970s when she attended schools that were devoid of learning, and that focused entirely on acceptable political behaviour. After Mao died in 1976 the entire country reversed gears and valued education as a pathway to technological improvement. It was the start of China becoming a leading economic power.

With the opening up of China to world influence the author received a grant for graduate studies in 1986 at the University of Georgia in the U.S. After, it would appear that she became a U.S. citizen (she does not explain this). She has revisited Shanghai on a few occasions and saw the vast changes that have occurred there. This is an emotional journey that the author experienced growing up in China,

[Jan Norton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Red Sorrow is an eyewitness account of how Mao Tse-Tung ruined a nation. The "Cultural Revolution" was not a true revolution, in any true sense of the word. It’s purpose was to feed the ego of a psychopath to "prove" his theories.

Communism can't "work" anywhere because the Communist leaders do not "work." Mao Tse-Tung (along with Marx, Lenin, and Stalin) spoke highly of the "worker," yet he never worked a day in his life. Come to think of it, neither had Marx, Lenin, or Stalin, nor Fidel Castro or Che Guevera. None of these men knew the value of work. Mao had no problem assigning useless chores to the worker, pulling them away from farms and factories and leaving the people to freeze and starve. This is what happened to the main character of the book.

Nanchu's book is about how she had to do those "chores" as a teenager. She (along with millions of other young people) gets a letter saying that she has to drop out of high school and go work in the middle of nowhere. Her country's dictator sends her to a non-producing work site in the country's outer frontier. The workers (all teens like her) are not given adequate food or clothing. Therefore, there is a generation of undernourished kids who can't go to school! Adult workers are pulled from the farms and sent to work on similarly useless projects. This causes food shortages. There were shortages in every area. Nanchu’s education experience when she went to the “university” is just as absurd.
The book was interesting.

[Mary Van Deman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Red Sorrow is a heartbreaking description of life in China from the early 60's until the mid 70's under the rule of Chairman Mao. Nanchu's writing is almost poetic and her descriptions draw you into that time and place. Her story is a reminder of what can happen when an entire country comes under the spell of a sociopathic dictator. Much of China became a cult of Mao in those days and the writer was drawn into that cult when she was in her early teens. She followed the lead of her comrades, partly through indoctrination and partly through fear. Her story of one of unbelievable suffering as she followed the teachings of Mao, but at the same time it is a story of love, courage and redemption as her eyes were opened and she escaped from the cult and the country which she loves. I highly recommend this memoir. It is beautifully written and eye opening. A must read!

[Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting memoir written by a woman who, as a young teenager, became part of the Red Guard during the Cultural Revolution in China and later became disillusioned when she saw through the propaganda to the truth of what was being done to China and its people. It's beautifully written, sounding quite poetic at times. I didn't know much of what happened during that time and this book piqued my interest in learning more.

[Kay Coulter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely interesting account of cultural revolution and the damage done by the cult of personality of Mao and how hard to recover. It took his death to start the recovery.

First hand reporting of the craziness of the cultural revolution and cult of personality to Mao. Mao destroyed their system of education and forced loyalty to him. Shocking really how upside down their world became for almost no progress Did not solve ant societal problems.

[Steve Crooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

A chilling first-hand account of how good people (in this case virtually the entire populatiion of China) can be nefariously misdirected to their destruction.

[Ruth · Rating 2 out of 5]

23. A very interesting read and an example of how mass national brain washing can happen overnight. All it needs are the very loud voices with the silent majority remaining silent.

[cameron ross paton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful story of the trials and tribulations of the author in China during the Cultural Revolution.
Highly recommended.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another interesting first-hand account of the Cultural Revolution. She was among the first wave of former Red Guards who returned from the countryside to go to college, and her account of navigating the complex political web during the on-going Cultural Revolution was particularly interesting. Her brief description of poor economic conditions facing her generation--namely, unemployment in part due to the limited education and limited skills thanks to years of schools being closed and work assignments moving rocks and such--is also something that I haven't seen covered in other books.

[Gloria · Rating 5 out of 5]

There were parts of her book where, I felt, the words were like a painting. I enjoyed the book for the being able to describe the different phases of becoming a free thinker.

[Sofia Villar]

Red sorrow is a memoir by Nanchu. It tells the story of a young 13 year old Nanchu who watched the Red Guard during the cultural revolution make her life miserable. She was left by herself to take care of herself and her younger brother. As she grows up she becomes a Red Guard herself and worked in one of the biggest working camps in china. In the camp she faced harsh conditions, sexual harassment and the pressure to conform. After a while she gets admitted to the Madam Mao’s university where she learns that politics were more important than learning. This is a story that shows the effect of the cultural revolution and the story of survival during the time.

During when I started reading this book, we were talking about event of the past that China has gone through and writing and article about China. I had prior knowledge on the Cultural Revolution and the Great Leap forward, so I was familiar with the topic. This book stood out to me because it was interesting to see how people were actually affected by the Red Guards and what they had to do to survive under those moments.