Young Pioneers: China


Figure 1.--Once virtually asll Chinese children wore their red scarves to school. In the 2000s, whole groups of uniformed school children can be seen without the once ubiquitous red scarves.

HBU has little information on Chinese Pioneering, but a HBU reader who recently visited China has provided some information. Membership in the Chinese Pioneers is in the 2000s not compulsory, but refusing to join could, until recently, run you into some trouble. One report from Shanghai indicated a boy who refused to join because he was Catholic had some diffulty obtaining further education. HBU is not sure just when this occurred, but suspects that in the 1950s and 60s that membership probably was virtually compulsory. Certainly refusing to join the Cultural Revolution could have been dangerous for a boy or even his family. The red neckerchief is the only uniform item. They tie it with an overhand knot or a reef knot and use no woggle.

Membership

Membership in the Chinese Pioneers is in the 2000s not compulsory, but refusing to join could, until recently, run you into some trouble. One report from Shanghai indicated a boy who refused to join because he was Catholic had some diffulty obtaining further education. HBU is not sure just when this occurred, but suspects that in the 1950s and 60s that membership probably was virtually compulsory. Certainly refusing to join the Cultural Revolution could have been dangerous for a boy or even his family.

Chronology


Uniform

For the most part we have noted Chinese Pioneers without formal uniforms. We see children wearing red scarves with their school clothes or school uniforms. For the most part a white shirt and red scarfe was as formal we got for the uniforms. We are not if there was a formal uniform, at least a formal uniform worn by more than a small number of children for high profile events. We have noted a few uniformed groups in the 2000s with berets and iniform shirts and short pants. We do not know if this a show-case group. We are not at all sure how common this was.

Red scarf

Chinese Pioneers do not have a uniform. Children for Pioneer activities wear their regular clothes or school uniform. The red neckerchief is the only uniform item. They tie it with an overhand knot or a reef knot and use no woggle. It is worn with either long or short trousers and over a white shirt, but a HBC reader has seen many youngsters wearing their scarf over their school uniform or a coloured shirt, apparently as a token of their membership. Once virtually all Chinese children wore their red scarves to school. For many children a red scarfe and white shirt was a formal as the Young Pioneer uniform got. In the 2000s, whole groups of uniformed school children can be seen without the once ubiquitous red scarves.


Figure 2.--This school scene shows children in Peking wearing white shirts with their red Pioneer scarves. I'm not sure when the photograph was taken, but it looks like the 1970s. This is as formal as most Young Pioneer uniforms got.

School uniform

School children all wear uniforms. Usually shorts and a shirt in the same style, sometimes in quite gaudy colours. Sailor collars are frequent. One favourite style is a coloured suit with piping in white or a contrasting color.

Formal uniform

We have noted a few uniformed groups in the 2000s with berets and iniform shirts and short pants. We do not know if this was a show-case group. We are not at all sure how common this was. We do not know yet if these uniforms were worn by a few elite uniformed groups in the major cities or was a widely worn Young Pioneer uniform. The uniform we note was red berets, light-colored shorts, olice drab shorts, nd white belts. This looked rather like the American Scout uniform, but without baseball caps. One photograph shows a group wearing this uniform with white knee socks and matching sneakers.

Regular clothes

‘Civilian’ clothes do not differ that much from what children wear in the Europe. Photos lead HBU to believe that this may be different in the western and southern rural areas. Both shorts and long trousers are worn. Boys of all ages are seen in both longs and shorts, and the latter may be above, down to or just under the knee.

Regional Differences

A HBC reader reports, "I should add that we’ve been to Peking, Dalian, Suzhou and Shanghai only. These are all big cities (between 1 and 15 million) in the prosperous eastern part of the country. I don’t think they are representative of the rural areas of the West and South."






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Created: October 1, 2001
Last updated: 2:59 PM 3/25/2009