Dictionary

hongweibing en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• ho͝ong′wā′bĭng′

Etymology

From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin 紅衛兵 /红卫兵 (hóngwèibīng, “red defense soldier; red guard”).

Meanings

1. (historical) A red guard, a member of a mass movement of civilians, mostly students and other young people in China, who were mobilized by Mao Zedong in 1966 and 1967, during the Cultural Revolution.
   • The Chinese are hastily obliterating all traces of hongweibing pogroms in Moslem mosques and other holy places. Mao's successors have been clamouring for Moslems to preserve the Islamic cultural heritage. The blame for all the excesses in the Islamic policy has been heaped upon the "gang of four" and Lin Biao. 1981, Far Eastern Affairs, number 4, Moscow: Progress Publishers, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 125:

Forms