structural:scholar_edition, information:classification, structural:summarization
Publication number

The Little Red Book has produced a wide array of sales and distribution figures. Some sources claim that over 6.5 billion printed volumes have been distributed in total, others contend that the distribution ran into the "billions", and others cite "over a billion" official volumes between 1966 and 1969 alone as well as "untold numbers of unofficial local reprints and unofficial translations."

The book's popularity may be because it was essentially an unofficial requirement for every Chinese citizen to own, to read, and to carry it at all times during the latter half of Mao's rule, especially during the Cultural Revolution.