In the telling of two different women, Helen Praeger Young attempts to describe a woman’s perspective of the Cultural Revolution and being Communist in China. The poor and educated were the original individuals to accept communism, although both poor and educated are usually words that are counterintuitive when combined, this Communist movement indeed combined the two terms and these two terms progressed into success for Communist China. In addition, to this, Chinese values continued on into the Cultural Revolution, the Long March and the path to Communist China. So while, the Communist Party did make radical changes to Chinese society, Communists ensured that some Chinese values and morals were still included in their propaganda and as …show more content…
Some important values of the Communist movement were truth, liberation, and discipline. In Chen Zongying’s account, the relationship that she maintained with her husband, Ren Bishi, remained consistent with the Confucian value of relationships concerning spouses. While vital values continued, some traditional values were left out or changed in Communist-led propaganda and behavior. Ma was able to escape her mother-in-law by joining the Communist Army. Running away from obligations and agreed arrangements was generally frowned upon, but exceptions were made based on the ideal of “liberation.” Similar to Ning’s granddaughter, shorter hair became popular. In order to have the appearance of her membership in the Communist army, Ma was forced to cut her hair and while she began to cry, she stopped once the nurses told her that she would be returned to her mother-in-law if she did not have her braid cut. Filial piety is another Confucian idea that remained constant. Ma’s father urged her to “work hard and try to get along with her elders” and also told her to be