From Mao's Red Guard to conscription into the Chinese People's Liberation  Army

S36E476 - From Mao's Red Guard to conscription into the Chinese People's Liberation Army

Published: October 2, 2026

Duration: 57:28

At twelve years old, Bing became a Red Guard—and for a few intoxicating months, he felt invincible.


Growing up in Mao’s Beijing, Bing was taught to worship Chairman Mao, recite the Little Red Book and attack the old order. But the Cultural Revolution soon turned against his own family.


His parents were condemned & sent to labour in the countryside, his grandmother was driven from Beijing, and Bing was left to care for his nine-year-old sister after she suffered a devastating injury during a Red Guard raid.