The document is a collection of journal entries from a Chinese student during the Cultural Revolution. In the first entry, the student expresses admiration for Mao Zedong and describes visiting Tiananmen Square to see Mao in person. The second entry discusses the student questioning the labeling of Lin Biao as a counterrevolutionary after his reported death, before deciding that Mao must be right. The third entry expresses despair over Mao's death and hopes China will continue to prosper without his guidance.

1. Wang’s Journal
By Eric

2. Poster that was given to me
when I was in eighth grade
Newspaper article that I read during the
revolution.
My little red book

3. Journal #1
“He works for the peoples welfare, he is the people’s saviour. He loves the people. The communist part is like the sun,
wherever it shines, there is energy.” There are not many things to describe Mao other than he is our saviour. Liu Shao Qi was a fool to
become a counter-revolutionary. It even says in the little Red Book that anyone that is counter-revolutionary would be considered
an enemy to the country. I learnt all of the things that made me who I am from that book. And after the visit to Tiananmen, I
realized just how important Mao really is to China.
I remember how the revolution started. A week ago, He called upon us to rebel against the teachers and party officials. Us?!
He’s beckoning us to rebel against the teachers and party officials? Oh, why, that is an honour! My fellow classmates and I were so
excited that Mao had summoned us that we decided that we are going to walk to Tiananmen to see Mao in person.
Anyways, I told my mom that we were going to Tiananmen Square to see Mao. At first she opposed because she was worried
about how long the road to Tiananmen was. I told her that was nonsense and that it was only 50 li. She gave in after a few
‘pleases’, but told us to be careful. Everything went quiet inside of my head when she said those words. I pretended that I was
needed to go to the bathroom, and as soon as I locked the door, I jumped up and down. I couldn’t mask the grin that was
spreading wider and wider and wider. I was finally going to see Mao!
We set off the next day at the crack of dawn, oblivious to every person that saw us, but paying attention to the minute details
of the Beijing countryside. Obviously I was a bit fearful. We all were. I had never travelled more than 3 li outside of my house. But the
fresh breeze of wind blowing on my face calmed me down. I kept on reminding myself that, hey, I’m going to meet Mao!
To pass time, we sang as we went along our journey to Tiananmen. We sang, “The East is Red”, “Golden Mountain of Beijing”
and “Sailing relies on the helmsman”. We felt like we could conquer the world with our terrible singing. When someone looks at us
like we’re a bunch of idiots, we stare back defiantly as if to say, “what are you looking at?” However reality struck way before we
anticipated. After two days of walking and sleeping in wherever we could find, we had blisters the size of strawberries daubed all
over our foot. We were starving and thirsty. We questioned why we decided to go in the first place. After three days of walking
nonstop, we finally arrived at Tiananmen Square just in time to see Mao. He appeared right above his portrait that had a red and
gold frame around it. There seemed to be people in every available space! I tried to jostle my way to get a better view of Mao
himself, but every time a gap presents itself, there would be another person that steps in to take a better look at Mao. There were
simply too many people that were between Mao and me.
I often wonder how many people were there on that day. Thousands? One million? I’m not sure. But I do know that there are
good people out there. People who support Mao.

4. Journal #2
I look up at the pale blue sky and I see birds flying across the horizon. White fluffy marshmallow-like clouds float lazily across, like a
herd of sheep migrating, going nowhere in particular. There is a faint aroma of vegetables being cooked inside the kitchen. I’m leaning
against an apple tree in my backyard. I’m thinking about all of the things that have happened in the past two weeks. I’m thinking about
whether Lin Biao was what everyone says he is. A counter-revolutionary. A rightist. A capitalist. After all, Lin Biao used to be the hero. The
second-in-command Mao himself. Mao had personally appointed him as his successor. But what am I to question Mao in this! I’m just a
mere high school student, former Red Guard. I don’t have an opinion on this topic. This kind of topic is too complex for people like me to
understand. That makes me think of what I call the Lin Biao incident.
Two weeks ago, I was at the exact same place as I am right now. Leaning against the apple tree, gazing up at the sky, and, well,
daydreaming. Suddenly, I hear a loud knock on our front door. “I’ll get it”, I shout to my mom. As I approach the door I can hear the
heavy breathing coming from the other side.
“Open up,” he huffed and puffed, “It’s me,” he huffed again, “It’s me, Shen.”
I let him in and he exploded. “Lin Biao’s dead.”
“What!” I exclaimed. He then told me that he had eavesdropped on his parents about the death of someone very high up in the
ranks and him being very close to Mao. Because of his natural curiosity, he fetched the new edition of the People’s Daily. On the front
page, in big bold words, “Lin Biao dies in an airplane crash”. At that moment he was opening and thrusting it into my hands. “You gotta
look at the paragraph!” He said. Underneath the title was a body paragraph about how the plane was brought down, but the second
paragraph caught my attention. “The reason for Lin Biao’s escape over the borders was because he was discovered to be in the middle
of a plot to murder Mao. He had planned to flee over the borders into Mongolia however the plane crashed before it could reach its
destination.” The date of the incident was from one year ago.
Three questions went through my mind at that moment. First of all, Lin Biao tried to kill Mao? What? Weren’t they supposed to be
best friends? Secondly, why was his death delayed for so long? Thirdly, why did Lin Biao try to kill Mao? Was it because of pure greed to
take over China? In that case he would be what everyone says he is. But what if… Uhhhhh, no. If Mao says it’s right, it’s right. Lin Biao is a
counter-revolutionary because he had tried to overthrow Mao. I can see now that Lin Biao was behind all of the bad things that
happened. He had caused the Great Famine. He was secretly planning with the Russians to overthrow Mao and let Lin Biao become
chairman. Well, not so fast. You can’t overthrow Mao. He’s invincible!
I can see clearly now that Lin Biao was the traitor to the Party. Why have I ever doubted Mao? I will slap myself for being so
ignorant. Lin Biao had deliberately told us to destroy the four olds because that would make him a popular choice if the plot were to
succeed. Power corrupts.

5. Journal #3
China, the greatest country in the world, has lost its greatest leader. How China will get over this obstacle, I do not know. I
do know that Mao will hold a special place in my heart. The amount of improvement that we have seen under him was
tremendous. He initiated the Dazhai (大寨), which was a huge success. He united China and gave us the simplified version of
Chinese. He rooted out the bad people that was in our party and put them into exile. He was the heart and brain of this nation.
When he dies, the heart of the nation stops beating and the brain of this nation stops functioning. I was in my home when the
news of his death came.
It was a chilly afternoon last month. September ninth, if I remember correctly. My friend Shen and I were playing at his
house. Shen is a friend that I had for many years. He has black hair, black eyes, black clothes, black face and black hands. In
fact, the only place on his body that isn't black is his feet, which is a relatively dark shade of brown. I am basically a splitting
image of him but with whiter hair, whiter eyes, you get the point. Anyway, it was one of those afternoons where the birds were
chirping, the breeze was soft and soothing, sweat dripping down our faces as we played a game of hide and seek. It was my
turn to hide, so he started the countdown. As soon as he turned his back towards me, I sprinted into the semi-basement where all
the sweet potatoes were kept. He’ll never find me, I thought. To pass time, I played with my fingers. After five dull minutes, I came
out of my hiding place with high spirits. After an afternoon of unsuccessful hiding places, I am finally able to escape his grasp.
However, as I tried to locate him I heard a gasp of crying from inside Shen’s house. I hurried to the front door, decided against it,
and settled against the window. I peeked in, and I saw two things. One, Shen’s parents were kneeling beside each other on the
kitchen floor, crying hysterically. Shen was beside them, not crying but with a look of complete shock on his face. Two, there was
a newspaper lying on its back on the table. I adjusted my glasses so I can see better. In big bold letters, the front page read,
“Mao is dead”.
At that moment I felt a sense of despair. What is going to happen to China when Mao dies? More importantly, who will
lead us when he goes? He united China and simplified our language, he gave us the opportunity to learn from the peasants, he
abolished the four olds that were dragging us down, and he initiated the agricultural campaign Dazhai. He paid the scientists no
attention when they said that planting wheat and paddy in every available land is not “scientific”, that it would ruin the forests
and cause “deforestation”. Instead he paid them no heed and gave us more food than we will ever need. We were rich! And
the four olds: old customs, old ideas, old habits and old culture, he abolished it. That was what our revolution and countless work
was all about, wasn’t it! We needed to shake off those old ideas, old customs, old habits and those old cultures. But now he is
gone. He has left us and went up into heaven. I hope, from the deepest of my heart, that China will prevail without his guidance.

6. Citations
• 1966-69 summary Cultural Revolution (longman)
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Revolution
• "China: A Century of Revolution: (1949-1976)
• http://www.theglobalist.com/where-would-china-
be-without-nixon/
• Mao's War against Nature: Politics and the
Environment in Revolutionary China

7. Citations
• "China Under Mao: The Cultural Revolution”