When Chairman Mao was attempting to regain power, one of his plans was to rally the people against the "Four Olds"; old culture, old habits, old customs, and old ideas. People were told to revolt against the Four Olds, that it was the biggest battle yet. A group called the Red Guards were created to help enforce the struggle against Fourolds. And it worked. People were up in arms about anything that could be considered "Fourold", attacking store signs, unfit clothing, and even people who were deemed "old-fashioned". This picture depicts one of countless instances of citizens in the street forming together to attack a fourold, in this case, a sign.
Ji-Li bears witness to this kind of behavior many times in her experience. She remembers the first time people came together to attack a sign. They put more and more force on it trying to break it, kicking it, stamping on it, even smashing it into the ground. Eventually they bring out an axe and chop it into pieces. After that, public destructions of fourolds become commonplace. Red Guards run rampant through the streets, attacking anything they see unfit. The schools introduce the "Red Successors" so that even Grade School kids can get in on the red power.
