Da Chen's autobiography "Colors of the Mountain" describes growing up in China under Mao Zedong's rule. His family was targeted because his grandfather was a landlord. They faced poverty, shame, and threats of violence. Da Chen eventually runs away and finds acceptance from a gang and an elderly woman who helps him learn English and go to college in Beijing. The document discusses Chen's development using the lifespan perspective, which views development as continuous and shaped by biological, psychological and social forces throughout one's entire life.

1. COLORS
OF THE
MOUNTAIN
Author: Da Chen

2. COLORS OF THE MOUNTAIN
• "Colors of the Mountain" by Da Chen is an autobiography on the life of Da Chen
growing up in China during the rule of Mao Zedong.
• Landlord Reform- significant numbers of landlords were beaten to death at mass
meetings organized by the Communist Party as land was taken from them and
given to poorer peasants
• Da Chen’s family was frowned upon because his grandfather was a landlord. Mao
targeted landlords and people who were the family of landlords.
• Grandpa Chen couldn’t leave the house for fear of being beaten, his father hauled
off regularly to labor camps, and the children were spit on in the streets.
• Da Chen seemed destined for a life of poverty, shame, and hunger.
• Ran off from his village in fear off being killed.
• Finds friendship with a gang of hoodlums
• Meets an elderly Chinese Baptist woman who teaches him English and opens the
door to a new life and able to attend Beijing Language Institute.
• Chen’s brother also gets the opportunity to make a new life for himself.

3. THE LIFESPAN PERSPECTIVE
• Development is lifelong
• No one single age period has a greater impact than another
• Different events over the course of life during each major period all have
equal effects on changes that may take place.

4. MAJOR PERIODS
OF HUMAN
DEVELOPMENT
Middle Childhood (6-11yrs)
*improved athletic ability
*More logical thought processes
*Master basic literacy skills
*Advances in self understanding
*Morality and friendship
*Peer-group membership
Adolescence (11-18yrs)
*Adult size bodies
*Thoughts more abstract & idealistic
*School achievements more serious
*Defines personal values & goals
Early Adulthood (18-40yrs)
*Completing education or start of
work
*Forming intimate relationships
*Establishing individual lifestyle

5. MAJOR DOMAINS OF DEVELOPMENT
Physical Development
Changes body size & proportion,
appearance, body systems function
different, and physical health
Cognitive Development
Changes in attention, memory,
academic and everyday knowledge,
problem solving
Emotional & Social
Development
Changes in self-understanding,
knowledge about other people,
friendships, behavior, moral reasoning

6. LIFESPAN PERSPECTIVE
Multidimensional
• Challenges and adjustments of life are
affected by a blend of biological,
psychological, and social forces.
Multidirectional
• During every major period
development is expressed jointly by
growth and decline

7. LIFESPAN PERSPECTIVE
PLASTIC
Human traits can be changed (molded as plastic can
be), but people maintain a certain durability of
identity (also like plastic, which takes a long time to
disintegrate). Intellectual performance remains
flexible as we age. Then overtime it gradually
becomes less plastic, because both capacity and
opportunity for change has reduced. Different for
every individual because life experiences are diverse.

8. LIFESPAN PERSPECTIVE
MULTIPLE-INTERACTING FORCES
Biological
*Science of life and of living
organisms
*Life processes or characteristics
Historical
*record of events, as of the life or
development of a people or
institution, often including an
explanation of or commentary on
those events
Social & Culture
*Of or relating to human society and
its modes of organization
*Socially transmitted behavior
patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and
all other products of human work and
thought.

9. RESILIENCE-ABILITY
TO ADAPT EFFECTIVELY IN THE FACE OF THREATS
TO DEVELOPMENT
*PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS- high intelligence, temperament
*PARENTAL RELATIONSHIP- a close relationship to at least one parent
provides warmth supports
*SOCIAL SUPPORT OUTSIDE THE IMMEDIATE FAMILY-some type of
support if cannot be received from a parent
*COMMUNITY RESOURCES AND OPPORTUNITIES- a chance to build
a bridge for better life quality and feeling of selfworth

10. AFTER MATH
After attending Beijing Language Institute, Chen moved to United
States to attend college in Nebraska where he was offered a
fellowship to teach and study. He then then attended Columbia
University Law School and worked as an investment banker on wall
street. Currently he lives in New York’s Hudson Valley with his wife
and two children. His mother lives with him after the death of his
father. One sister also resides in New York and the other remains in
Beijing with his brother.

11. REFERENCES
• Berk,L. E. (2010). Exploring Lifespan Development. Self-Understanding. 257-
258.Boston: Pearson.
• Chen, Da. (1999). Colors of the Mountain. New York: Random House
• Fairbank, J.K. (1992). Establishing control of state and countryside. China A
New History. 345- 349 Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of
Harvard University Press.
• Grada, C.O. (2011). Famines Past, Famines Future. Development & Change,
42(1), 49-69. doi ; 10.1111/j.1467-7660.2010.01677.x
• Jowett, A.J. (1990). China: The great leap of disaster or China: The great
famine or China: The harvest of Death or. Focus, 40(3), 19
• Mallet, P., & Rodriguez-Tome, G. (1999). Social anxiety with peers in 9- to- 14-
year olds. Development process and relations with self-consciousness
and perceived peer acceptance. European Journal of
Psychology of Education-EJPE (Springer Science & Business Media B.V.)
• Stop Bullying, N. (2004). Providing support to youth who are bullied: tips for
school personnel (and other adults). Prevention Researcher, 11(3), 18

12. ABSTRACT
• "Colors of the Mountain" by Da Chen is an autobiography on the life of Da
Chen growing up in China during the rule of Mao Zedong and the landlord
reform organized by the Communist Party as land was taken from
landowners and given to poorer peasants. Da Chen’s family was frowned
upon because his grandfather was a landlord. Mao targeted landlords and
people who were the family of landlords. Throughout the book Chen
searches for acceptance because all he knows is torture and torment
because of his political stance. Chen goes through many stages of
development. His development throughout the book can best be describe
using The Lifespan Perspective: A balanced point of view. The Lifespan
Development Perspective says that development is lifelong, no one single
age period has a greater impact than another, and different events over
the course of life during each major period all have equal effects on
changes that may take place.