Red Guards

Cultural  

1. Loosely organized bands of militant communists who followed Mao Zedong in attacking conservative or bourgeois elements in China during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in the 1960s.

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Example Sentences

Her desire for a global tabula rasa outstrips that of even the most fanatical Red Guards, who still dominate her mental landscape.

From New York Times • Mar. 23, 2024

Millions of North Koreans between the ages of 17 and 60 are listed as Worker-Peasant Red Guards, a national civil defense organization that could be loosely compared to military reserve forces of other countries.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 8, 2023

In 1968, the Red Guards were themselves dismissed as Mao sought to curb their power.

From Textbooks • Dec. 14, 2022

Among her earliest memories is her mother being taken away by Red Guards; both her mother and father were forced into reeducation during Mao’s Cultural Revolution.

From Washington Post • Sep. 20, 2022

“I don’t think the Red Guards will notice them.”

From "Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution" by Ji-li Jiang