Son of the Revolution by Liang Heng and Judith Shapiro Essays

Youre a human being, not an animal. You have the right to be loved (262). Son of the Revolution by Liang Heng and Judith Shapiro was a book that showed how inhumane many of the aspects of Chinese life were during the Cultural Revolution. The book followed Liang Heng through many of his childhood memories to his departure from China in his twenties. The book applied a real face to the important movements during the Cultural Revolution, the effects that the cult of Mao had on society and Heng, and the way the period affected Hengs personal family life. The first major movement in the Cultural Revolution was the Hundred Flowers Campaign (later called the Anti-Rightist Movement), which took place from 1956 to 1958. Its†¦show more content†¦It called for huge communes in rural areas, which ended private property in the countryside. The Liang family experienced this both by the hunger they felt while still in Changsha, and later on when they joined the countryside. 1966 brought the beginning of the Cultural Revolution. This was designed to clean the communist society and also to bring Mao back into power. Maos swimming in the Yangtze River marked the beginning of this movement. The whole nation rejoiced because our beloved leader had battled the waves for so long at the age of more than seventy, turning his feat inevitably into a metaphor. `The current of the Yangtze is strong and there are many waves, but if a person is not afraid to struggle he will overcome all difficulties (43). And that metaphor was the whole basis for the Cultural Revolution: suffer for the greater good of the country. In actuality it became a way for people to point out others disloyalty to the Party. Intellectuals were attacked, which was specifically bad for Hengs father. Since he worked for the newspaper, he was attacked as having Capitalist or Rightist thought. As a result of this anti-intellectual thought the Universities were eventually closed for about ten years. That was very sad for Liang Heng, since he had a life-long thirst for knowledge. But the immediate result was persecution of intellectuals and their families. Eventually MaoShow MoreRelatedWhat Motivated People Commit The Violence Seen During The Son Of The Revolution?1693 Words   |  7 Pagespeople to commit the violence seen in the Son of the Revolution? Do you think such violence could happen in any society under the right conditions? Perhaps it is in human nature to turn to violence in turbulent times. We often overlook the violence that goes hand in hand with great historical change. And, as the victors write history, often the violence that acts as the cornerstone of societies are toned down and forgotten. During the Cultural Revolution in China, violence forced its way into theRead MoreThe Struggles of Liang Heng in Son of the Revolution Essay1200 Words   |  5 PagesThe Sun of the Revolution by Liang Heng, is intriguing and vivid, and gives us a complex and compelling perspective on Chines culture during a confusing time period. We get the opportunity to learn the story of a young man with a promising future, but an unpleasant childhood. Liang Heng was exposed to every aspect of the Cultural Revolution in China, and shares his experiences with us, since the book is written from Liang perspective, we do not have a biased opinion from an elite member in the ChineseRead More The Impact of Revolutions on th e Cold War Essay2473 Words   |  10 PagesRevolution was an important theme throughout the Cold War. Revolutions begat, molded and then finally brought an end to the Cold War. In 1917, the Bolshevik Revolution forced Vladimir Lenin, the new communist leader, to withdraw from World War I on the side of the Western Allies and to sign a separate peace agreement with Germany. The suspicions that this aroused among the Allies were the seeds of the Cold War. In 1949, the New Democratic Revolution of China ended the Kuomintang (KMT) rule and established