Da Chen,
China's Son: Growing Up in the Cultural Revolution.
Delacorte Press, 2001.

As a young child, Da Chen could not freely leave his house. When he accompanied his mother and sister to the market, the trio clustered together. This family rule was stricly enforced because Chen's parents wanted to protect their children. This was during the Cultural Revolution, and Chen's parents were landowners. They were the target of antipathy, insults, and violence. Although Chen's family were landowners, it was in name only. They were ironically most impoverished. Their property and storefronts were stripped from them. Their father was fired from his position as a teacher and sent to a forced labor camp. This left the family without any income. The Chen family subsisted on a meager food ration. There were instances when they would eat anything that came their way. This included moldy yams, insects, and roots.

The Chen's family's financial situation made paying the tuition for school difficult. Da would often ask for an extension, prostrating himself before the teacher. He would copy textbooks from his classmates, since he could not afford the texts. In a stroke of luck, a kind teacher gave Da an extension on his tuition and a copy of the textbook. An excellent student, Da flourished in school. When the kind teacher was replaced by a less progressive teacher, things changed. Soon Da found himself excluded from activities and ignored in class. Despite the resistance from his new teacher, Da continued to do well in school. But academic success was a joyless victory. He would always be branded a landowner's son, despite his achievements. Eventually, the politics of the town would interrupt Da Chen's education.

This book is adapted from Chen's book Colors of the Mountain. It successfully communicates to the younger reader the constant and often illogical adversity that the Chen family faced everyday. At times the frustration that the Chen family feels against the Party Secretary is palpable. Despite constant setbacks, the family exhibited a constant, almost tireless motivation to struggle to thrive against such resistance.

The Cultural Revolution brought anarchy to China. Colleges were shut down. Students chased teachers out of their classrooms. Seemingly small trifles like forgetting one's homework on Chairman Mao could be considered an insult to Mao himself. Such an insult could brand one as a counterrevolutionary, and bring harm. Children of landowners and scholars were directed to farming schools. Yet in this crucible, Da Chen was a ble to succeed. China's Son is a narrative of triumph against enormous odds.

Eric C. Lai