Question

What was contained in the Red Book shown in the cartoon ?

Answer 1

Step 1: Look at the cartoon:
The cartoon is about China. The top panel is marked THEN and shows a leader holding a small book. The label says MAO LITTLE RED BOOK. The bottom panel is marked NOW and shows a smiling man in a suit with a red power tie.

Step 2: Recall what the Little Red Book was:
The Little Red Book is the popular name of Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung (Mao Zedong). It is a small book of his sayings and writings. It covers communist ideas, class struggle, revolution and how to build a socialist society.

Step 3: Why it matters in the cartoon:
In the Mao years, China was a strict communist state and people were told to follow the thoughts of Mao. The cartoon uses the book to stand for that closed, ideological period, and the red power tie to stand for the market economy of today.

Final Answer:
The Red Book contained the ideas and sayings of Mao Zedong on communism, class struggle and revolution. \[ \boxed{\text{Thoughts of Mao on communism and revolution}} \]

Answer 2

Step 1: Read the labels:
The top panel of the cartoon is marked THEN, and the leader holds the Little Red Book with the label Mao. The leader wears a plain uniform with a red star, which is the dress style of the communist era.

Step 2: Recall who Mao was:
Mao Zedong led the Communist Party of China to victory in the revolution. He founded the Peoples Republic of China in 1949 and ruled it as Chairman of the Communist Party till his death in 1976.

Step 3: Link to the cartoon:
So the cartoon shows Mao as the communist leader of China, the face of the old state controlled system that used the Red Book to spread its ideas.

Final Answer:
Mao was Mao Zedong, the communist revolutionary leader and founder of the Peoples Republic of China.

Answer 3

Step 1: Study the two panels:
The THEN panel shows Mao with the Little Red Book, a symbol of the communist ideology. The NOW panel shows Hu in a business suit with a power tie, which the label calls the capitalist red power tie.

Step 2: Change 1: from communism to a market economy:
Under Mao, the state controlled the farms, the factories and prices, and the ideology was communism. From 1978 China began economic reforms and opened up to the market, so the NOW panel shows a capitalist style of working.

Step 3: Change 2: from simple life to wealth and business culture:
The old leader wears a plain uniform and holds a book of ideas. The new leader is well dressed, smiling and rich looking. This shows that China moved from revolutionary austerity to trade, foreign investment, profit and a growing middle class.

Final Answer:
Two changes are: (1) China moved from a communist, state controlled economy to a capitalist, market oriented economy, and (2) the focus moved from the ideology of the Red Book to wealth, business and consumer culture.