Red Scarf Girl chapter recap 1-4:

RSG Chapter 1 Recap:

-In Ji-lis Universe of Responsibility (she feels most loyal towards) = Her parents and
Chairman Mao and the Communist Party Chairman Mao is the highest.
-Ji-li got excited when meeting the Liberation Army Woman soldier and was chosen to
audition for the Liberation Army Arts Academy.
-Her parents told her that she could not do the audition; that the process would be
long and they would check into her familys political connections. Her father wouldnt
explain what could be found, he just said no.
-A devastated Ji-Li cried & yelled back but ultimately listened, giving a note to
Principal Long saying she wouldnt be trying out.
-Her best friend An-Yi and Teacher Gu couldnt understand why she would miss the
Audition but they didnt push it. The other 3 students didnt even make it.
-Ji-li starts to worry that they dreams she has thought of for her future will not come
true. (She doesnt feel so lucky anymore)
RSG Chapter 2 Recap:
-Ji-Li and her siblings watch student inspectors in their Campaign to destroy the four
olds.
-They destroyed the Street sign GREAT PROSPERITY MARKET (because anything to do
with money or good fortune is considered a fourold).
-A young man was targeted for his pants being too tight and shoes being too fancy
(both considered to be fourold). He was humiliated in public, had his pant leg cut &
ripped open.
-He was submissive (always obeys) and let the embarrassment happen.
-Ji-lis parents are probably not as enthusiastic about destroying the fourolds as she is
because that is what they are used to and how they grew up you cant expect
people to automatically change how they think and what they believe.
-Ji-li and her classmates attacked each other with fourold accusations (Youre more
fourolds!)
RSG Chapter 3 Recap:
-Classes were canceled and students were expected to come to school to create dazi-bao (propaganda posters), bashing teachers and the educational system.
-Ji-li and other students have been told (through newspapers and the radio) that their
teachers have been corrupting them and actually trying to turn them into Revisionists.
-Ji-li was a follower: she couldnt think of anything critical to write about a teacher so
she copied one from the newspaper.
-Yi Lan-Lan wrote a harsh da-zi-bao, stating that teachers are responsible for her
failing three times.
-Others students wrote da-zi-bao, accusing teachers of ruining their eyesight by
making them read & corrupting them by buying them bread to eat at lunch.
-Ji-li was forced to be in the group that went to humiliate Jiang Xi-wen, outside her
house (Ji-lis aunt).
-The students made Aunt Xi-wen read her da-zi-bao out loud.
-It was hard to tell if Aunt Xi-wen was smiling or crying (Being submissive).

-The da-zi-bao was about Aunt Xi-wens bourgeois (luxurious) lifestyle (wearing
clothes from America, wearing make-up and not letting students picking mulberry
leaves from her yard).
-Ji-li hid and pretended to tie her shoe so that her Aunt wouldnt notice her.
-Ji-li saw da-zi-bao outside of Grandpa Hongs Bookstall, believed he was bad and
wanted to shake the evil stories that she had read there, out of her head.
-Du Hai & Yin Lan-Lan wrote a da-zi-bao about Ji-li, suggesting she had an
inappropriate relationship with a male teacher.
-Ji-li & An Yi (her best friend, whose Teacher mother was targeted in a da-zi-bao) both
cried about the personal da-zi-bao attacks.
RSG Chapter 4 Recap:
-Red Guards were formed at the High School/College level to rebel against the old
system and Ji-Lis school decided to vote on making Red Successors, who can
practice before becoming Red Guards.
-Classes were back in session and the rain had washed away most of the da-zi-bao
-Much to Ji-lis surprise, she was nominated to be a Red Successor She was super
excited about the possibility of doing it, but her classmates called her out, saying her
Grandfather was a Landlord (in control of money) and her father was a Rightist
(against Communism).
-Ji-lis Dad explained about their family history, saying that he was not a Rightist (and
anyone could come watch him at his job for proof), but that Grandpa was a Landlord.
-Ji-li was upset, and Ji-yong, Ji-yun (her siblings) asked if Grandpa whipped farmers or
forced girls to be his maids (because theyve only been told negative things about
Landlords).
-Dad assures them that though Grandpa did exploit (take advantage of, as every
Landlord did), he was not bad and he was sick for most of his life. He died when Ji-lis
Dad was only 7.
-Though Ji-li may not get to be a Red Successor because of her family, she is not
responsible for who her Grandpa was; nothing about who he was is her fault.
-Du Hai and Yin Lan-Lan tell Ji-li that she must remold herself (change), because of her
landlord grandfather and her rightist father.
-She stands up to them and said she has nothing to do with who her grandfather was.
-They, along with the other Red Successors, hold Ji-li after school and pick apart what
they think her problems are. (That her family takes pedicabs, and has a
housekeeper, both traits of a bourgeois lifestyle).
-The Red Successors continue to criticize Ji-li, even though these are kids shes known
her whole life.
-Ji-li acts submissive and takes all of the hurtful comments, focusing on the fact that
its almost graduation and she can just ignore them until then.
-She feels as lonely as a flower, wishing someone would take care of her.
Vocab:
Revolution classes struggling, leading to a change of thinking/behaving (overthrowing one
system for another).
Communism = A system that believed in everything shared (a classless society).
It focused on Equality -- everyone on the same level (land, money, property and education)
Prosperity good fortune; wealthy

Bourgeois A term that negatively describes a person who enjoys a luxurious capitalist
lifestyle.
Four Olds old ideas, old customs, old culture, old habits.
Propaganda misleading or false information, meant to promote or expose a particular idea.
da-zi-bao - Propaganda poster that criticized a person or a system. Influencing messages meant
to expose/harm people.
Revisionist - A member of the Communist party who tries to change the ideals (a serious
offense)
Red Guards High School/College students who organized themselves to take charge of the
Revolution. They support showed extreme loyalty to Chairman Mao.
Exploitation benefitting unfairly from the work of someone; using someone in a selfish way.