What aspects of the Cultural Revolution are not represented in the existing literature?
The usual “victim literature” would show people suffering from the movement. But people, a really large number of people, were also at the heart of the movement. The distinction between victims and villains is very unclear and my stories show a broader range of behavior beyond suffering. Could you define the Cultural Revolution for any of my readers who are unfamiliar with that period in China’s history? It is very risky to even try to define such a big and complex thing in a few words, but let me introduce it in a nutshell: The Cultural Revolution was a mass movement launched by Mao Zedong. It began in the summer of 1966 and lasted for a decade, until Mao’s death in September 1976. During that period Mao purposely broke the state apparatus with the help of the masses, thus leading the entire country into chaos. Virtually everyone in China was affected. Students, middle school through university, became the Red Guards. Books were burned or seized, libraries sealed. Schools were closed
