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Five Black Categories
During the Cultural Revolution, Chairman Mao and the Chinese Communist Party condemned old ideas, old culture, old customs, and old habits as impediments to social progress.
Four Olds Quotes in Red Scarf Girl
The Red Scarf Girl quotes below are all either spoken by Four Olds or refer to Four Olds. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 2: Destroy the Four Olds!
Quotes
My friends and I had grown up with the stories of the brave revolutionaries who had saved China. We were proud of our precious red scarves, which, like the national flag, were dyed red with the blood of our revolutionary martyrs. We had often been sorry that we […] had missed our chance to become national heroes by helping our motherland.
Now our chance had come. Destroying the four olds was a new battle, and an important one: It would keep China from losing her Communist ideals. Though we were not facing real guns or real tanks, this battle would be even harder, because our enemies, the rotten ideas and customs we were so used to, were inside ourselves.
I was so excited […] There were many more important missions waiting for me. I felt I was already a Liberation Army soldier who was ready to go out for battle.
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Chapter 6: The Sound of Drums and Gongs
Quotes
“It seems terrible to just cut them all up. Why don’t we just give them to the theater or to the Red Guards?” Ji-yun held a gown up in front of her. She was imagining what it would be like to wear it, I knew.
“The theater doesn’t need them, and it’s too late to turn them in now. The Red Guards would say that we were hiding them and waiting for New China to fall. Besides, even if we did turn them in, the Red Guards would just burn them anyway.” Grandma looked at me and shook her head as she picked up her scissors. “I just couldn’t bear to sell them,” she said sadly. “Even when your father was in college and we needed the money.” She picked up a lovely gold-patterned robe and said softly, “This was a government official’s uniform. I remember my grandfather wearing it.”
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Four Olds Term Timeline in Red Scarf Girl
The timeline below shows where the term Four Olds appears in Red Scarf Girl. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2: Destroy the Four Olds!
...and her family have heard on the radio about how people must destroy the “ Four Olds ”: old ideas, old culture, old customs, and old habits. Many shop names still “stink”...
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Within a few days, most Four Olds signs have been destroyed. Red banners displaying stores’ new names flap in the breeze. Dad’s...
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...school students inspecting people’s clothing. The newspapers have just declared pointy shoes and narrow pants Four Olds . As Ji-li and Ji-yun push closer, the inspectors identify their next victim, a handsome,...
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...she had her yang-san (her umbrella), a classmate named Yang Fan criticizes her for spreading Four Olds , since the word “yang” attached to anything means “foreign.” Another classmate, Du Hai, quickly...
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Chapter 6: The Sound of Drums and Gongs
...temperatures. Newspaper and radio stories constantly remind everyone about the need to root out the Four Olds , encouraging people to destroy any tainted personal possessions. Red Guards ransack the houses of...
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Ji-li understands that only searches like these can root out the Four Olds , but watching still makes her uncomfortable. Suddenly, Grandma appears at Ji-li’s side. She hustles...
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...night, Ji-li’s parents discuss painting Grandma’s red-and-gold trunks black, to keep them from being considered Four Olds . The trunks were a gift from Grandma’s mother when she came to Shanghai to...
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Ji-li worries aloud that the clothes are Four Olds . Mom agrees—that’s why she and Grandma have decided to repurpose them into bedspreads. Grandma...
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Chapter 8: A Search in Passing
...that Mom heard a rumor that pictures of people in old-fashioned clothing are now considered Four Olds , so she and Dad are burning potentially incriminating family photographs in the bathroom. Ji-li...
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...the album, labeling Ji-li a xenophile and noting that she has a surprising number of Four Olds for a little kid. Then, she has other Guards put Ji-li, Ji-yong, and Ji-yun in...
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Chapter 9: Fate
...Yi agrees, wondering why their fate hasn’t improved. Even though they know such superstition is Four Olds , Ji-li and An Yi do a ritual to find out whether the future holds...
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Chapter 11: Locked Up
...holiday involves firecrackers, presents, and visits to friends and family. But firecrackers have been declared Four Olds , and few people feel like celebrating. To avoid neighborhood gossip, Ji-li goes to a...
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