What was it like to be a Red Guard? How did one perform the loyalty dance? What was daily life like under the constant shadow of Mao? In this panel, historian Yongyi Song and librarian Hong Cheng share their personal experiences living through the Cultural Revolution, as well as their thoughts on the afterlife of the movement.
A native of Shanghai, Yongyi Song has long devoted himself to preserving the true history of China’s Cultural Revolution and combating government censorship through myriad publications, including bibliographies and source books. Song was twice jailed by the Chinese authorities—once during the Cultural Revolution for organizing an underground reading club, and again in 1999, for collecting primary sources on the revolution.
Hong Cheng has been a librarian at UCLA, in charge of the collection for Chinese studies at the East Asian Library, since 2005. He is also the chief editor of Chinese Studies Abroad since 2010. His research fields include modern Chinese history, Chinese socio-economic and cultural history, historical philosophy, and the theory of library management. His major publications include Eyewitness WWII: from Shanghai to the Pacific and Chinese Studies Abroad, Vol. 1.
