Last Week we read “Three-Body Problem,” a sci-fi that explored China’s cultural revolution’s struggles. I found this piece very interesting because the author could use real-world events and add a twist to metaphorize a story. The part of the story we read was titled “Madness Years,” which went into depth on China during the cultural revolution. We read the first chapter last Week. The book opened up in 1967, which was the peak of the Chinese cultural revolution. The story explains how two communist factions in China are in a standoff with each other. This separation was between the older and newer generations of communist followers. Both these groups accused the other of disloyalty to the communist ideals, which led to the inevitable conflict.
The book opens with a scene where the older and younger generations attack each other. The author then explains a young girl “Waved the battle banner as though brandishing her burning youth, trusting that the enemy would be burnt to ashes in the revolutionary flames, imagining that an ideal world would be born tomorrow from the ardor and zeal coursing through her blood… Her brilliant, crimson dream intoxicated her until a bullet pierced her chest.” This was very important for the author to open within the book because this captures the brutality of the cultural revolution. It also shows how people in these two generations are willing to kill and die over their devotion to the communist party. While this clash was occurring, another problem occurred at Tsinghua University because a big target in the cultural revolution was the professor in the University, which led to many of them quitting or killing themselves. One professor, however, refused to keel to the pressure of the cultural revolution. This professor’s bravery led to a “struggle session,” where he was tortured while students watched. During the “struggle session,” the professor’s wife is brought in because she is also a professor who works on theory. She accosts her husband for teaching Albert Einstein’s theory on relativity which was believed to go against communist ideals. The story begins with how many ideas, such as the theory of relativity or the big bang theory, are incorrect and go against communism. It turns into The professor’s wife and her students against the professor. Using this story about the professor shows how to split the communist party in China. It provides an excellent example of how even families were divided on the proper understanding of communism. It also provides a sense of how brutal the revolution with a man being beaten with a copper belt in the story or the 15-year-old girl dying waving a flag. It was a great piece to read for class because it provided insight into how brutal China was and metaphorically added outside pressure.
Liu, Cixin. The Three-Body Problem. Translated by Ken Liu. New York: Tor, 2014.
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