Years Of Red Dust: Stories Of Shanghai

To the extent of this class so far, we have had the opportunity to read the book titled, Years of Red Dust: Stories of Shanghai. This book is about much more than just fictitious characters and stories, but about the general realization of how daily life was changed in modern China over fifty years. Specifically, in (Tofu) Worker Poet Bao I & 2, it discusses the story of Bao Hong and how he rose to local prominence in Shanghai during Mao’s Great Leap Forward in 1958, but eventually his successful career became a full circle. Mao’s plan was to make China prominent by having China compete internationally with heavy industry and agriculture by having communes and making the people do everything in groups. The key objectives of the plan were to …show more content…
“Quickly produced farm machinery produced in factories fell to pieces when used. Thousands of workers were injured after working long hours and falling at their jobs. Backyard production method took many workers away from their fields – so food was not being harvested.” (Trueman Historylearningsite.co) Since there was a lack of food, nearly nine million starved to death. Throughout my analyzation of the text, you will gather how Tofu Worker Poet Bao was a representative of China’s changing economy. You will also be able to see why author, Qiu Xiaolong meant for Bao to be a tragic figure.
The story of (Tofu) Poet Worker Bao I commences in 1958 at Red Dust Lane, just one year into the Great Leap Forward. Initially, Bao was a young apprentice in a tofu shop. With the rise of the Great Leap Forward, Bao changed his profession to working in a steel plant. Early on in his new career, during his lunch break, a senior editor of Liberation Daily came to the steel plant. The editor had been looking for a worker poet for the magazine. Bao was somewhat dumbfounded, he knew he was poorly educated and a tofu maker by heart. Bao continued to eat his lunch and continue discussion with the

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