Red Azalea

An addition to the 2006 edition, Min’s Preface discusses the novel’s popularity more than a decade after its first publication. Min examines her motives for writing Red Azalea, noting that the then-current government glosses over the human cost of the Cultural Revolution.

Beginning her memoir, Anchee Min recalls her childhood, which was immersed in the training and ideas of the Communist Party as led by Chairman Mao. Remembering her previous position in the Little Red Guard, Anchee also recalls her parents, who were both teachers, and her difficult childhood. Describing her younger sisters and brother, Anchee recounts how she and her siblings got their names and relates how she raised her siblings while her parents worked. Anchee means Jade of Peace.

In 1967, when Anchee is 10, the family moves from their home, harassed by their downstairs neighbors. Claiming that her family has too big a space for six people, these neighbors cover the family’s belongings with waste and attack them physically. The neighbor’s daughter attacks Anchee’s mother with scissors, before cutting herself and accusing Anchee’s mother of the attack. Hoping to avoid further violence, Anchee’s father advertises their home and attempts to trade it for someplace safer.