Author(s): Tania Branigan

Asian

An indelible exploration of the Cultural Revolution andhow it shapes China today, Red Memory uncovers fortyyears of silence through the rarely heard stories of individuals who lived through Mao's decade of madness. 'Took my breath away.' BARBARA DEMICK'Haunting.' OLIVER BURKEMAN'A masterpiece.' JULIA LOVELL A 13-year-old Red Guard revels in the great adventure, and struggles withher doubts. A silenced composer, facing death, determines to capture the turmoil. An idealistic student becomes the 'corpse master' . . . More than fifty years on, the Cultural Revolution's scar runs through the heartof Chinese society, and through the souls of its citizens. Stationed in Beijingfor the Guardian, Tania Branigan came to realise that this brutal and turbulentdecade continues to propel and shape China to this day. Yet official suppression and personal trauma have conspired in national amnesia: it exists, for themost part, as an absence. Red Memory explores the stories of those who are driven to confront the era,fearing or yearning its return. What happens to a society when you can nolonger trust those closest to you? What happens to the present when the past is buried, exploited or redrawn? And how do you live with yourself when theworst is over?