Asia

Materials from Asia

Shanghai Messenger

A free-verse novel about eleven-year-old Xiao Mei’s visit with her extended family in China, where the Chinese-American girl finds many differences but also the similarities that bind a family together.

Mao and Me: The Little Red Guard

Chen’s book tells his story of growing up during the Cultural Revolution (between 1966 and 1976) in China.

See the review at WOW Review, Volume 3, Issue 2

World History Biographies: Mao Zedong: The Rebel Who Led A Revolution (Ng World History Biographies)

Born in Southern China in 1893, this farmer’s son would rule the world’s most populous country. The young Mao Zedong grew up in a world desperate to break with the ancient rules of the Qing dynasty. Mao challenged convention early in life, and was expelled from school. He joined China’s new Communist Party, and led China’s historic revolution. Hailed by many as a truly liberating hero, others demonized him as a brutal monster. This biography outlines the revolutionary life of the first leader of the People’s Republic of China and sets his march to power in the context of world history.

Young Samurai: The Way Of The Sword

After a vicious ninja attack left him orphaned and stranded in Japan, Jack Fletcher managed to complete his first year of samurai school. Still, his troubles are far from over. The prejudice of his Japanese classmates has gained him dangerous enemies within his school, and Dragon Eye – the ninja who killed his father – is still after him. Jack’s only hope of defeating them lies in surviving the Circle of Three: an ancient ritual that tests a samurai’s courage, skill, and spirit to the limit. For most, gaining entry into the Circle means honor and glory, but for Jack it’s a matter of life or death. The winner will be trained in the Two Heavens-the formidable sword technique of the great samurai, Masamoto. Learning this secret is the only hope Jack has of protecting his father’s rutter — the invaluable navigation guide of the world’s uncharted oceans — from Dragon Eye. Forced into a deadly battle, Jack’s going to have to master the Way of the Sword. And his time is running out.

The Chinese Revolution And Mao Zedong In World History

Mao Zedong, leader of the Chinese Revolution, rescued China from years of corrupt rule, foreign domination, and civil war. Through Mao’s tactics of guerilla warfare and peasant support, China became a Communist nation in 1949. Mao unified China under a central government, yet the legacy of his achievements — and mistakes — still lingers. By isolating China for over two decades, Mao let it lag behind the progress made in other countries. In The Chinese Revolution and Mao Zedong in World History, author Ann Malaspina relates the history of the Chinese Communist party and the People’s Republic of China during the time of Mao Zedong. Key events include the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, and Mao’s helping China emerge from isolation by reaching out to the United States.

The Cultural Revolution

On August 18, 1966, more than 1 million young people marched into the center of Beijing. They had come to answer the call of the country’s leader, Chairman Mao Tse-tung. Mao had just launched the Cultural Revolution in China, an attack on anyone who seemed to be betraying communist ideals. The young people who came to Beijing carried Maos violent message throughout the land. During the next three years, the Cultural Revolution brought chaos and bloodshed all around China.