Question

1. what were the red guards trying to find when they searched through houses? what does \the sound of drums and gongs\ represent?

Explanation:

For the first part, during the Cultural Revolution, Red Guards searched houses to find "four olds" (old ideas, old culture, old customs, old habits) - items or signs representing traditional, feudal, or bourgeois elements to destroy. For the second part, "the sound of drums and gongs" represented the mobilization and public nature of Red Guard activities, like rallies, marches, or propaganda events to spread their ideology and carry out their missions (e.g., searching, denouncing "enemies").

Answer:

1. When searching houses, the Red Guards were trying to find symbols of the "four olds" (old ideas, old culture, old customs, old habits) (e.g., traditional art, feudal - related items, bourgeois - style possessions) to eliminate them.
2. "The sound of drums and gongs" represented the public, mobilized nature of Red Guard activities (such as rallies, propaganda campaigns, or actions to enforce their ideological goals, like spreading Cultural Revolution ideology and carrying out "four olds" destruction drives).