Things stolen from practice essays Flashcards
Whose teachings were the “Sparrowcide” campaigns based on?
Lysenko
How many CCP officials were killed between 1966 and 1976?
500,000
What other films were made at the time?
Chen Kaige’s “Farewell my concubine,” and Zhang Yimou’s “Raise the Red Lantern.”
How does the Dry Well hutong change throughout the film?
At the start there are celebratory flags, in Ch2 the roads are scarred with backyard furnaces and in Ch3 the walls are all covered in condemnation posters.
Where was the Great Famine focused, and how many did it kill there?
Concentrated on the centre and the west, with 17 of the 50 million deaths from Sichuan and Anhui.
How does Shujuan represent the “New Maoist Woman”?
This idea came through the 1950 New Marriage Law, where women were to have greater rights and a larger role in the country.
Shujuan is educated, a primary school teacher, and is hardworking. She is also shown to be independent and of an equal status to Shaolong and Guodong, often cooking with them.
How is the camera used to present Shujuan and Shaolong as equals?
Multiple side-angle shots are used, placing them at the same level with neither in a dominant position.
How do the family dinners change throughout the film?
At the start the gatherings are happy, with warm lighting and lots of food. Over-the-shoulder and wide shots are used to include all of the family members in the shots, showing their unity. Later however, close-up shots are used with only 2-3 members per frame, with colder lighting used. This demonstrates the breakdown of family under Mao’s rule.
How many landlords had their land stripped from them, and when?
By 1951, 10 million.
What period does the film run through?
1953-68
When were the Hundred Flowers Campaign and Anti-Rightist Campaign?
1956 and 1957
When was the Great Leap Forward?
1958-1962
When was the Cultural revolution?
1966-1976
How is the suicide of a member of the airforce base highlighted?
A slow camera pan to reveal the blood and pistol, emphasising the horror, and also showing the range of people who are potential targets.
Who committed suicide in real life during the Anti-Rightist campaign?
Yang Gang, a female journalist for the People’s Daily, after submitting a criticism on the feminist writer Ding Ling, was stripped of her status as a delegate of the NPC. She then committed suicide.
How is the indignity of the deaths of those who died in the Laogai camps shown?
A shot of Shaolong’s unmarked grave is shown, with Shujuan later saying: “I don’t even know where he’s buried.”
How many people died in Laogai camps under Mao’s rule?
25 million
How are the Great Famine an failures of the Great Leap Forwards shown?
Shujuan and her sister are seen preparing only Chinese Cabbage for a meal, Guodong dies from malnourishment and overwork, and Shusheng mentions how the communal kitchens waste lots of food, and that the backyard furnaces only produce scrap metal.
How many children stopped receiving education during the Cultural Revolution?
130 million
When was the first opium war?
1850
What did Lao Wu’s heart condition symbolise?
Tian Zhuangzhuang uses it to symbolise the stress that the Chinese people have gone through since the founding of the PRC. His death scene is starkly contrasted to the joyous wedding scene at the start of the film, emphasising how much the social and political structures of China have changed.
