Red Azalea

The Commander of Red Fire Farm, Yan grows close to Anchee and almost becomes a second protagonist in the memoir as they both face Lu’s growing criticism. Idolized by her comrades at Red Fire Farm, Yan has gained many titles from the Party. While physically strong and attractive, Yan cannot match Lu’s skill at verbal sparring. Unable to answer Lu’s accusations with fluent rebuttals, she often resorts to swearing. A complex and dynamic character, Yan first appears as a devoted follower of Party principles, encouraging her new comrades to recognize their place in the “revolutionary machine” (49). Her leadership demonstrates The Pervasive Reach of Mao’s Propaganda, for she has memorized Mao’s teachings, including The Little Red Book. Drawn to Anchee, she includes her on the mission to capture Little Green and punish her for her misdeeds.

Yan’s guilt over the subsequent decline in Little Green’s mental health (and later, Little Green’s untimely death) highlights her apparent hypocrisy, for just as Little Green indulged in an illicit affair, Yan desires Leopard, a man who runs a neighboring farm. She attempts to alleviate Little Green’s mental health condition by rather unusual means, to no avail. Attracted physically to Anchee, Yan grows intimate with her after Anchee serves as her go-between to Leopard. Her complex character unfolds further as Yan puts herself on the line to protect Anchee from punishment and engineers a way to trap Lu herself. Like Anchee, Yan eventually grows disillusioned with Party ideology, bemoaning that she, at “twenty-five, […] had nothing but the useless Party position titles” and, in her view, “an old weather-beaten face” (119).

When Yan later visits Shanghai, Anchee notices more changes, such as her affair with Leopard and her purchase of red underwear, both of which indicate her own willingness to engage in The Pursuit of Freedom. After Leopard and Yan have sex at Anchee’s parents’ home, Yan and Anchee separate, and Yan doesn’t respond to her future letters.

Described as effeminate and delicate, the Supervisor has “bright almond eyes […] long and thin eyebrows like the wings of a gliding sea goose” and “smooth pale skin shaded mauve on the cheeks” (235). He controls artistic production for Jiang Ching’s film and serves as Anchee’s second love interest and protector. While he doesn’t initially choose Anchee to be the first Red Azalea, the Supervisor finds Anchee desirable because of her personal identity, and he critiques her as a “bourgeois individualist” (247). As the director of Red Azalea, the Supervisor possesses considerable power and control, yet, as he explains to Anchee, he grew up with none. The son of a maid, he recounts being treated poorly by the rich for whom his mother worked: His mother was a sex worker, but died from syphilis and was buried outside the city walls. This painful history motivates the Supervisor to continue making films for Jiang Ching, and he tells Anchee that he is “tired but obligated to a mission” (245) to advance the class struggle.

Although he expresses disdain for the rich, he has advanced personally in the Revolution by helping Jiang Ching to make films and operas extolling the proletariat and heroines in general. His balance of his history and his present fortune mark him as a dynamic character who continues to discuss his inner life with Anchee throughout Part 3. Of his demeanor, Anchee states, “He always thought that he knew women no less than I did, because he carried a female part in him as well” (286). This dual nature motivates him to continue his work.

Anchee’s and Yan’s antagonist at Red Fire Farm, Lu attacks Yan, at first, and then spies on both Yan and Anchee. Recognizing Yan’s own hypocrisy, Lu tells Anchee that she despises hypocrites. The daughter of a revolutionary who was murdered by Nationalist troops, Lu carries the skull of another martyr as a sign of her commitment to revolutionary principles. Although Yan commands the farm, Lu makes more harsh rules, functioning just as Soviet Wong does for the Supervisor at the film studio. Lu also functions as a foil for Anchee, for her unquestioning fidelity to the revolution highlights Anchee’s growing disillusionment with the same system and also echoes the character of Anchee when she was a child who betrayed her first teacher in accordance with Party principles.

As Lu appears to gain ground in her ongoing battle against Yan, her behavior changes and she exhibits increased hubris that leads to her downfall. Believing herself to be the true essence of Party ideals, Lu ceases “her Mao-work-study routine, saying she had mastered the essence of Mao thoughts” (148) and she eats extravagantly as she attacks Yan with recitations of Mao’s writing. These changes, however, don’t represent any dynamic qualities. Instead, Anchee describes her as a static character who has a “fixed mind. A mind full of dead thoughts” (78). Throughout the memoir, Lu’s hostility and pride remain constant.

Soviet Wong serves as one of the teachers at the film studio in Shanghai and remains bitter about the change to amateur actors championed by Jiang Ching. Along with Cheering Spear, she serves as the primary antagonist of Part 3 and represents the invisible boundaries created through a system of accusations and gossip. Although she remains fairly static in her hostility toward Anchee, Soviet Wong is nonetheless moved by an inner need for adoration, for Anchee notes that she hates all the girls but grows close to Cheering Speer because Cheering Spear flatters her. Harassing Anchee in particular, Soviet Wong criticizes her appearance and her acting. As a representative of The Pervasive Reach of Mao’s Propaganda, Soviet Wong uses her influence to poison others against Anchee as well. Using critique and indirect speech, Soviet Wong ruins Anchee’s chances to choose her own direction. Voicing her hopes for the role of Red Azalea, Soviet Wong declares, “We need a real Communist to play a Communist” (180).

Like Soviet Wong, Cheering Spear functions as an antagonist within Part 3 of Min’s memoir. Duplicitous, Cheering Spear views Anchee and the others as competition though she appears friendly. Anchee describes her as someone with a “rival’s eyes” and “an unfriendliness behind the friendly face” (166). A former reporter for the Beijing Daily and a trainer of horses for the military, Cheering Spear speaks with a perfect Mandarin accent, as opposed to Anchee, who speaks haltingly in Mandarin and exhibits signs of regionalism. Cheering Spear pursues the role of Red Azalea with as much passion as Anchee pursues freedom. Her hostility toward Anchee doesn’t last, however, for she loses herself in the role. Jiang Ching describes her performance in the film as talentless, commenting, “All is not gold that glitters” (267). A static character, she plays the role of Red Azalea in the same manner as she presents herself: visually appealing yet shallow.

Leopard functions as Yan’s love interest. Only briefly described, Leopard remains a fairly flat character and receives Yan’s letters without response or emotion in Part 2. As Yan becomes aware of his apparent lack of interest, she declares their inchoate romance at an end. However, his appearance in Part 3 revolves around his sexual encounter with Yan on the porch of Anchee’s parents’ home. Leopard appears at Anchee’s house and says very little, and Anchee describes him as nervous and lovesick. After he and Yan have sex, Leopard admits to Anchee that if she were a man she “would have been the one to win [Yan]” (223). This dialogue points to his role as a foil to the Supervisor, who by embracing both the masculine and feminine aspects of nature, becomes more attractive and desirable.

Little Green is the first person to challenge revolutionary ideas at the farm. She loves to sing opera, having been raised by a grandmother who was an opera singer. Little Green functions as a dynamic character, at first caring for her appearance and sexuality enough to modify her uniform and make special underwear. Described as graceful, beautiful, and daring, Little Green ignores the looks and judgments from her fellow comrades, instead seeking her own pleasure. Punished by Yan first for leaving her underwear out and allowing them to be stolen, Little Green meets a local man in the field for an illicit affair, where Yan catches her in the act. Forced to falsely accuse her lover of rape, Little Green changes dramatically and exhibits symptoms of a mental illness. Little Green functions as a dynamic character, changing from a person who flouts the ideals of the revolution to one destroyed by the reality of the revolution. Her dynamic nature allows Yan to grow and open as a character, as she deals with her guilt and hypocrisy.

Autumn Leaves is the young Anchee’s favorite teacher until she becomes the victim of Anchee’s mindless pursuit of revolutionary ideas and accolades. A static character, Autumn Leaves is the daughter of immigrants to the United States; she was thus born and educated there. Anchee initially idolizes her and calls her “an energetic teacher who never seem[s] to be tired of teaching” (28). She offers her students literature from the West and supports them, at one point sacrificing her own raincoat so the students can stay dry. Holding Anchee up as an example, Autumn Leaves sees her potential. At Anchee’s school, Secretary Chain eventually manipulates Anchee into denouncing Autumn Leaves as a spy.