In 1966, Zhang was a teen in Beijing when Mao Zedong began the Cultural Revolution. Though he was the son of a "bad guy" (a famous writer), he became swept up in the revolution, until the violence and his father's arrest made him question its goals. In 1968 was sent to a small village to learn how to farm, where he discovered his true calling - art. Grades 2-4 and older readers.