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This was given to my mother by her Professor whilst studying in main land China. During the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s Chinese people had to carry their Little Red Books, which contained Mao Zedong ideas about Communism.

The Cultural Revolution was led by Mao to turn China into an egalitarian society by eradicating traditional Chinese culture. He believed the culture embodied privilege, which was unfair to the peasants who made up the majority of Chinese people. As a result, a whole generation lost the opportunity to be educated in Chinese culture, literature and the arts.

Mao believed memorising and quoting from the book would make people better and more productive citizens. The destruction from this period is tragic and ironic for a society that has valued culture and education since ancient times.