Interview with JIn-Jun; a Former Red Guard

Q: Did you quit school to become a Red Guard?

A: Yes. I did. Mao persistently encouraged us students to quit school and focus on being good Red Guards. My dad put a lot of pressure on me too. So I quit and became more focus on helping communist China. Mao encouraged us attack and punish counter revolutionist.

Q: Did you come from a black family?

A: Yes. My father’s dad was a landlord and both my parents were teachers. I decided to change my last name so that I could control my future. It was really hard to tell my parents. I never really talk to them unless I needed to or to beg them to repent. What really made me become a Red Guard was when our house was searched. I realized I wanted to do the same but, to those who deserved it. Eventually parents came around.

Q: What was your favorite part of being a Red Guard?

A: Like I said earlier I wanted to search houses to destroy the four olds. I wanted to search people who deserved the hard experience. Now that I look at it I’m horrified that I liked what I was doing. I guess I was taking out my past anger out on people I thought deserved it. We literally turned homes upside down. We looked under tables, between sofa cushions, and even in toilets.

Q: What was the hardest thing about being a Red Guard?

A: I think the hardest thing was that I had to leave home so much. Mao wanted us to," fan the fire of the Cultural Revolution." I went to far away cities every two months or so. We gave speeches to encourage children to do the same as we did. We also searched houses there.

Q: Well I appreciate the time you are taking to do this interview. I have one last question. How dedicated were you to being a Red Guard?

A: I was very dedicated. I searched out the four olds like I searched for my homework when I was in school. I destroyed the four olds that it was almost frightening to anyone who wasn’t a Red Guard. When I did I felt that in some way I would be praised by Mao Ze-dong himself. But that never happened.