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Chang Hong is one of Ji-li’s classmates in junior high school. Because she comes from a red family and because of her own deep and heartfelt devotion to the Chinese Communist Party, its ideals, and Chairman Mao, she becomes a Red Guard. Although Hong’s devotion to the party outweighs her love of her own family—she is off doing her patriotic duty when her much-loved younger brother dies of his epileptic condition—she nevertheless treats Ji-li with kindness, compassion, and humanity, despite Ji-li’s black status. Hong encourages Ji-li to try to make up for this by doing positive things, like participating in the Class Education Exhibition or doing her summer labor in the country, but she never encourages Ji-li to disown or otherwise disrespect her family. Hong’s willingness to see people for who they are rather than their family history becomes evident, too, when she marries a “black whelp” after the end of the Cultural Revolution. Eventually, she returns to Shanghai and works in a factory.
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Chang Hong Character Timeline in Red Scarf Girl
The timeline below shows where the character Chang Hong appears in Red Scarf Girl. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 10: Junior High School at Last
...this work home instead. Teacher Zhang says yes, if he promises to do it. Chang Hong, Ji-li’s seatmate, thinks that Shan wants to avoid the work, but Ji-li believes he will...
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...confess their crimes. Ji-li wonders what Dad’s crimes could be. When the exercises end, Chang Hong, recently elected to the Red Guard Committee at the school, takes the stage to lead...
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Chapter 12: An Educable Child
...preparations for the exhibition, which entail many meetings and long hours after school. Ji-li, Chang Hong, and their partners Fang Fang and a girl nicknamed “Ducky” decided to make a three-dimensional...
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...done. Fang Fang and Ducky sleep with their heads on the desks while Ji-li and Hong soldier on. Ji-li worries about Dad. The family knows that he has refused to confess...
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Chapter 15: The Rice Harvest
One hot summer morning, Ji-li walks nervously to the school. Chang Hong wants to talk to her, and, because it’s “not convenient” to have the conversation at...
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Ji-li sees that Hong is nearly in tears. Ji-li appreciates Hong’s commitment to the revolution and the fact that...
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...drifts back to sleep. Later, she wakes again, this time to the sound of Chang Hong’s voice. Her classmate has come to the farm with a message: Ji-li must go back...
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Epilogue
...successful. An entire generation of Chinese people had their young adulthoods stolen from them. Chang Hong worked for many years on a farm near Mongolia, where she met her husband—who was...
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