Zhang carefully circumscribes his account of China's cultural revolution within the limitations of his own experience and without hindsight: even after seeing his home trashed and his father humiliated by the Red Guards, the then--thirteen-year-old Zhang thought, "All I wanted was to be just like the other kids, to wear the olive green uniform with the red armband.

Disease, and the respective body of knowledge, co-exist within a social reality, a social reality that binds and circumscribes.

But we so mired by the bulk of flesh and muscle, forgoing assembly honors and applause to bow and crouch inside the lime-drawn circle that circumscribes our earthly life - we know that everything is only practice, imperfect imitation