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When my mom and dad met [the boy's relatives], [his
relatives] said, "[They] all were [social] class brothers." Those were the
words the dead boy's relatives said.
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This was one precondition for releasing me. Another was
that my dad had no [political] problems. My dad was [declared free from any
problems] by the beginning of 1969.
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Actually, by the end of '68 he had no [political]
problems, generally speaking, [from] August or September onward.
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Moreover, [since] my dad had no [political] problems,
someone from our Air Force unexpectedly came to the prison to visit me. It
must've been May 1968—no, it was April.
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When I was allowed to relieve myself outside, to use the
bathroom, I saw two Air Force members.
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Since they were people from the Air Force, [they had]
insignias on their caps and collars; [the cap] insignia was a five-pointed
star.
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The [cap] insignia of the prison officers was [China's]
national emblem. There was a difference. As soon as I saw this, I felt a
little confused. Is it the red hat and insignia? Is it the five-pointed
star? [I thought].
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I was a bit mixed-up at the time. Later, after I'd left
the prison, I confirmed I wasn't wrong. It was the five-pointed star.
[They] had come especially to see me.
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When they saw me locked up with the old convicts—the
so-called old counter-revolutionaries— they brought up whether it was
possible to change [cells].
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So then, a great reorganization occurred in the prison.
Young convicts [and] student convicts were locked up together. Old
counter-revolutionaries were locked up together, separated [from the
younger people].
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Well, let’s talk about going into prison first. I went
into prison on January 5, [1968], into K Building, Unit 3, Number 8. [That
is], corridor number 3, cell number 8.
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Just after [I] went in, [I was] interrogated. The
interrogator asked me about the course of events of the crime. After
questioning me, [he] told me, "Your crime is very serious. You must be
prepared."
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[He] told me firmly, "[It will be] a long sentence, maybe
even a death sentence." I said, "I know."
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After that, I returned to my cell. Not long after, our
supervisor, that is, the head who supervised convicts in the prison, a
civilian police officer, held the door and said, "Wang Jiyu, come out." I
went out.
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After [I] went out, he said to me very seriously, "At the
moment, I represent Beijing Municipal Public Safety Bureau Military Control
Committee in announcing that you are under arrest."
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My being held in custody had been escalated to being under
arrest. "Sign your name," [he said], and gave me a certificate of arrest. I
signed.
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At the time, to be honest, my [signature] was horrible to
look at, all crooked, and on top of that, I hadn't used a pen for a long
time. So, I figure those characters were impossible to read.
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After I finished signing, I went into the cell. [Others in
the cell asked], "What's up?" I said, "I've been arrested." Actually, [this
thing of] being arrested was quite interesting.
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Most of us in that cell were young people. As soon as I
went in, a State Planning Commission cadre, who looked just like an owl,
[said], "I saw you on the Most Wanted list. You're a murderer. You are a
member of the United Action Committee."
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"Huh? What are you looking at, you owl?!" I said. "How did
you get to look so much like an owl?" Then, one guy picked up his leg
irons...He had killed a friend he was traveling with in Wuhan when his gun
accidentally went off. He had a gun.
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Then, there were a lot of other assorted people. But they
were all from the opposing faction, the rebel faction, the 4-3 [April 3]
Faction.
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I said, "I'm the one who beat XXX to death." They heard
that and just said, "OK, you little bastard, if [we] were on the outside
[we'd kill you]."
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I said, "I know if [we] were on the outside, you guys
would want to kill me, but sorry, who knows who'd be killing whom?!" At the
time, in [that prison], factional conflict—
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Interviewer: —still existed.
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Still…It not only still existed, it was also very
intense, extremely intense. But that guy who had killed his own comrade
actually said, "Quit talking nonsense! We're all in here, so what are we
fighting about?"
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See, I think that since he had killed his own comrade, he
had an indescribable compassion. He knew murderers weren't only those [who
say], "I ought to kill you; it's right to kill enemies or people I hate,"
that there were two different situations.
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He was certainly suffering more than I was, since the
person he'd killed was a friend. Next to me was a young guy from the
Qijibu.
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That guy had also stabbed someone with a knife during a
fight. He was an apprentice worker who was paid a [monthly] salary of 18
RMB.
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He saw me holding that roast chicken and bread, and said,
"I'm going to die of envy! So delicious!" I said, "Everyone eat some
together," but not a single person moved.
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I ate all of that stuff myself. Why? In the prison, it was
expressly stipulated, "No items may be given to another person, including
food."
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There was a rule like this, within the eight regulations.
I couldn't memorize [them all], but this one I remember well—[you]
couldn't give [things] to anyone else.
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On January 8, after the questioning, they announced I was
under arrest. Everyone said, "OK, you ought to be upgraded." I said, "What
does it mean, 'upgraded'?"
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[They told me], "Just wait a while and you'll know.” Not
much later, [I heard], "Wang Jiyu, gather up your things and come out."
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I picked up the only stuff I had, the things the Public
Safety Bureau police officer had given me, along with my yellow
cotton-padded jacket and yellow cotton-padded pants, which the Hainan
Island prison had given me, since that was an army prison.
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Then, what I'd been given was taken off of me. I was
"upgraded" to upstairs. What I [was given] to wear was true prison garb:
black cotton-padded jacket, black cotton-padded pants.
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The pants were really short, [hit me at mid-calf]. How can
these pants be so short? [I thought]. The crotch was big and baggy.
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I just hoped my family would send some things for me in a
short time, since I didn't want to wear such awful stuff. But [the clothes]
were really warm—really good cotton.
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And there was no bedding [of my own]; I just used the
prison bedding. When I'd been in the prison mentioned earlier, I'd seen the
old counter-revolutionaries and thought they looked really sinister, with
greenish faces.
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Actually, [their skin color] was due to malnutrition. In
that place, if you held a bowl in the sunlight, you'd never see a drop of
oil on it.
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Everything was cooked in plain water with just a little
bit of salt. A cabbage root could be cooked to the degree that when you ate
it you'd taste cotton candy or sticky rice; it was really good.
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Before then, I never knew cabbage roots could be so tasty.
When dividing food, if I could get some cabbage roots, it would be a great
honor. The texture of it was wonderful.
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Steamed cornbread had to be eaten like this, [cupped in
both hands]. It reminded me that Ma Benzhai once said to eat sponge cake
like this, [held aloft in one hand].
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Now, [I was] eating steamed cornbread that way, [cupped in
both hands]. That's how it was eaten in the prison, cupping it with your
hands, which was called "tuo zi.”
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That has a pleasant name. You see? Prison talk was quite
like classical Chinese.
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In that [area of] the prison there were several people
locked up who are worth mentioning since they were historical figures. One
was Zhang Zuolin's aide, who died there.
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One was Jin Bihui’s younger brother, Yoshiko Kawashima's
younger brother, an engineer who had designed the K building [of the
prison].
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Interviewer: And in the end was imprisoned there
himself.
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[Yes], he was locked up there himself. Another was a law
enforcement officer named XXX, who had hanged Li Dazhao. I only remember
[their] names; I don't remember the other [prisoners'] names.
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Oh, there was a professor from Tsinghua University as
well, [born in] 1923, who'd lived in the United States. Then, there was a
professor who'd lived in Germany.
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That guy was really great. You see, in prison, you could
learn things you wouldn't be able to study out in society; it was like a
prison university.
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What else? There were [people] who'd been to Germany, the
United States, and Japan. For example, that old man Jin had stayed in
Japan; he was the one who'd designed that [K] building [of the prison].
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There were all types of intellectuals, and many
middle-aged intellectuals. There was a teacher from Beihang University
[Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics], who I thought was
really old-school.
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There was a student from Renmin University named XXX,
[who] was a 1957 rightist. There was another old rightist, who was also a
1957 rightist, who had been at Tiantanghe [Labor] Farm all along.
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But why he was incarcerated, I don't know. He worked
milking cows. When he was finally released from re-education through labor,
he still worked milking cows; he was already inseparable from
Tiantanghe.
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But I could see that he had transformed from an
intellectual into a crook, a rogue. He had already changed into that type
of person. [There were] so many types [of people]...
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The one who left the deepest impression on me was XXX. He
was a Communist Party member who'd joined the revolution in 1938. I don't
know why he was put in prison.
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One day, he was questioned, and he came back. When he came
back, he looked totally pissed off.
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Then, the door opened, and an administrator, a police
officer, who was from Guangdong, came in and said, "How dare you sneer at
proletariat dictatorship!"
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[The prisoner] said, "I sneered? I'm a
counter-revolutionary?! Who's a counter-revolutionary?!
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"There are 14 people in my family, and 13 of them
sacrificed their lives for the revolution! I'm the only one still
living—how have I become a counter-revolutionary? Raaaar!!!" He
sneered.
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Then the administrator just said, "You wait!" and closed
the door. A while later, he was taken out. I heard a clanging noise
outside. I guess it was the rattling of "smashing shackles."
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What is "smashing shackles"? That was when you'd be
shackled, and then [the guard] would grab the shackles and shake them over
and over. You'd slip and hit your head, fall and [bang up] your nose and
face.
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Anyway, in the prison [they] have their ways to punish
you. [They] didn't "hit" you; it was called "smashing shackles." But that
guy was really tough. He didn't make a sound or beg for mercy.
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It was just "Uh, uh," that kind of [grunting] sound. He
was taken away [being “smashing shackled”] for half a day. When he was
brought back, he was wearing what we called "dog tooth" shackles. There
were [also] "wolf tooth" shackles.
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Interviewer: They got tighter the more you moved?
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Shackles that got tighter the more you moved—handcuffs.
The regulation was that they couldn't be worn for more than six hours.
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After four or five hours, a police officer—who was
basically the warden—who was responsible for our corridor...This guy's
level of ability was actually rather high, completely different from that
police officer from Guangdong.
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[The warden] said [to the prisoner], "You are a Communist
Party member. You believe yourself a staunch revolutionary. Your family had
so many people who sacrificed their lives for the revolution.
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"However, have you ever thought about what they did it
for? They did it for our present day. But you still sneered in public. You
want to offer a show of force to the Party; you paint yourself with the
blood of your family's martyrs.
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"If you are truly a Communist Party member, then you ought
to withstand the ordeals of the Party and the People—any ordeals. But
you? You think you've been wronged.
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"A few days ago, XXX from your [prison] unit was released.
He was a steelworker in Shougang. He went through ordeals, and has already
returned to the ranks of the People.
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"He went through a reexamination, and [admitted he was]
wrong. We have reversals and reinvestigations—you must understand
this?"
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[When he] said this, that old Communist Party member [was
speechless]. As a result, he was chastened, and respectfully wrote a
repentance.
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But I was really respectful toward that [old Communist
Party member]. He snored [when he was sleeping]. [The sound] was so
horrible, but I could tolerate it, since he was an "uncle" [to me]. He
slept near me.
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Then, there was another person, XXX, who was a farmer from
Daxing County. His family background was landlord. He was a worker in the
state cotton factory.
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[During] the Cultural Revolution's Rectify the Class Ranks
campaign, because he had a bad family background, “evil tyrant
landlords,” he was expelled from the factory.
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After that, he was considered a counter-revolutionary
element, or a bad element, and put under supervised labor. [The labor
supervisors] were really harsh toward him.
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His team leader was also… [That team leader thought],
"You little bastard! It’s your turn now! Back at the factory you were so
full of yourself. [Now] you've come to the village. It’s time for you to
listen to me."
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They really discriminated against him, to the point of
oppression. Later, this person couldn't stand it, and snapped a shovel in
half, to kill the village head—no, the team leader, small team team
leader—he just about hacked him to death.
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Logically, [this prisoner] should have been executed by
firing squad, [but] in the end he was not. But this guy was actually
mentally ill.
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When he was in the prison—we ate communally, right? When
one pot of food was finished, there might be a little broth from cooking
vegetables left over.
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That had to be divided as well, and it was absolutely
fair. No matter if you were young or old, everyone got the same amount.
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When it was time to give him his portion, [you'd ask him],
"Do you want it?" [He'd say], "No, no, no." Crazy.
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00:13:09.210 --> 00:13:20.020 align:center line:-1
Actually, [we'd] leave some for him. "What about mine?
What about mine?" [he’d say]. [His hands] were shackled in front. This
kind of murderer had to be shackled.
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However, I wasn't shackled, to be honest. Oh, right, just
after I'd moved to the upper floor, I was shackled for one day, then [my
shackles] were taken off.
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Interviewer: Is it because you were not yet 18 years old?
Was this the reason?
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[No]. At that time, [there was no regulation] about 18
years old, 16 years old. Some counter-revolutionary elements were executed
even though they were young. Later, I thought, why did they unshackle
me?
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Maybe it was because my case had the possibility to be
re-examined. Later, [I heard they’d been persuading] the family of the
deceased. I felt that was interesting.
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Later, this guy was really angry: "You! You old thing, you
cheated me!" At the time, the person dividing [the food] for him…I forget
his last name—he was from the northern part of Jiangsu [province].
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He spoke with a northern accent, but was from Jiangsu.
[He] was very refined, wore a small, rounded knitted hat on his head. [The
mentally ill prisoner] just used his shackles to [hit the man from
Jiangsu].
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That man's head was smashed, with blood streaming out. I
yelled, "What are you hitting people for?!" [He said], "OK, you little
bastard, you dare pick on me, too?"
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00:14:27.620 --> 00:14:52.840 align:center line:-1
He jumped at me from over there. I seized the moment when
he had not yet hit the ground, ran to him, and just like a police officer
can grab a kid by wrapping his arms around him, I tripped him to the
ground, dodged, and—duang!--kicked him in the head.
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That kick knocked him silly immediately. Everyone just
stood staring at me. "You're a murderer!" They all said that at the same
time.
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Honestly, why did I myself think I was a murderer, rather
than finding some excuses to justify myself? Because this was caused by my
natural instincts.
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Any evil can have a free space to release itself in a
particular situation. The Cultural Revolution had only given me that space
to release [my evil]. This [evil] thing is something I was born with…
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There were two [people with the last name X] in our cell.
One was Old X, who was 72 years old. We called him "Rosy Cheeks," since
both sides [of his face] had two red circles.
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It was really something, how he looked, and his eyes were
strange. [They drifted up and down]. Everyone in the prison [looked] kind
of weird.
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00:15:38.780 --> 00:15:47.390 align:center line:-1
Then there was Little X. Those two [were from] the same
village. Only later did I know about the Daxing Incident, [learn that]
there were causes and effects of that massacre.
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00:15:47.400 --> 00:15:58.180 align:center line:-1
These two people were from Ma village in Daxing [County],
from Beizang town. Of the two [prisoners surnamed X, the older one] was
from the Kuomintang's "home-going legion."
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In 1947, they dug a ditch, and buried alive Ma village in
Beizang town's Communist Party members, activist elements, and relatives of
such people.
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Among them was one who escaped alive, and that was this
Little X. He had been born in 1943 or '44. I don't know how he was lucky
enough to live through that.
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00:16:17.710 --> 00:16:29.990 align:center line:-1
In 1966, he took the lead. He took advantage of the
Destroy the Four Olds campaign and the August red terror [Red August]. He,
too, dug a ditch, and buried alive the children of landlords and rich
peasants.
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Interviewer: Just like that?
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A lot of people don’t understand. They only care about
the aftermath; they never think about the cause. [There is never an end to]
taking revenge. This is why I oppose revolution.
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[In a] revolution, accounts must be settled; there must be
retaliation—its result must be terrifying. So, my feeling is that the
prison is a great classroom. It taught me a lot of principles.
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00:16:48.560 --> 00:16:55.450 align:center line:-1
But at the time, I aligned myself with Little X. Little X
said, “If [we] were on the outside, I’d kill him.” I said,
“That’s right. [If we were] on the outside, I’d help you kill
him.”
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I made this promise sincerely. Luckily the person I’d
killed was the child of workers. If his family background had been bad,
would I still have had this kind of understanding?
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Would I have been able to reflect like that? It would’ve
been impossible. At the time, as soon as I heard that [Old X] had buried
alive Communist Party members and their relatives in a ditch, I despised
him.
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00:17:15.890 --> 00:17:23.930 align:center line:-1
[However], [we] were in prison then, [so I couldn’t do
anything]. Later, I suddenly felt, these people were locked up in
prison—was it that the government was protecting them?
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00:17:23.940 --> 00:17:37.280 align:center line:-1
For example, Zhang Zuolin’s aide, or Yoshiko
Kawashima’s younger brother, or the criminal police squad captain who’d
hanged Li Dazhao—I believe protecting these [people] was sensible, since
they were living resources, were archives.
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00:17:37.290 --> 00:17:44.410 align:center line:-1
But Zhang Zuolin’s aide was a disappointment. One day,
when [he] was cleaning himself up, he was leaning over to lift the
washbasin. Peng!—he fell down and died of a cerebral hemorrhage.
112
00:17:44.420 --> 00:17:53.610 align:center line:-1
At the time, he was already over 80 years old. His chest
hair had grown to his shoulders. It was white—that’s called “Azure
Dragon.” The hair was long; it was really scary.
113
00:17:53.620 --> 00:18:06.430 align:center line:-1
It was really honorable how he sat there straight and
still every day until evening. That old thing, Zhang Zuolin’s aide, was
really unusual, an eccentric with an unusual appearance. Eccentrics must
have an unusual appearance.
114
00:18:06.440 --> 00:18:17.310 align:center line:-1
Later, they transferred us to a different cell. First,
they put us in corridor number 9. Oh, I was “upgraded” to corridor
number 9, [cell] number 4. [Later], I was put in corridor number 9, cell
number 3.
115
00:18:17.320 --> 00:18:28.280 align:center line:-1
In corridor 9, [cell] 3, was a little kid. This kid was
called XX. He’s in the eastern U.S. now; I’m going to meet him. Since
they put all the young people together, [everyone there] was a young
student.
116
00:18:28.290 --> 00:18:39.510 align:center line:-1
XX and I were locked up together. XX was from the second
study group class of Red August. What was his crime? He had shoved leaflets
into people’s hands in the street [that said] “Jiang Qing is a slut.
Jiang Qing is a traitor.”
117
00:18:39.520 --> 00:18:55.780 align:center line:-1
At that time, that boy was quite pretty, with a face [that
looked] powdered, [like] pure jade, can you imagine? A boy with cheeks like
peach blossoms, red lips. [His] eyebrows were nice and neat.
118
00:18:55.790 --> 00:19:11.390 align:center line:-1
How could he look so much like a girl?! Seeing him was
unsettling. He wasn’t heroic-looking, [but rather] was pure like white
jade. Not anymore. Now when you look at him, he’s a total old man.
119
00:19:11.400 --> 00:19:27.470 align:center line:-1
He’s younger than me, but looks so old! He [was born in]
1953. At the time, he was quite young, just 14 years old. I was 16. Later,
we [were moved to] this cell.
120
00:19:27.480 --> 00:19:36.040 align:center line:-1
In this cell there were all kinds of young
counter-revolutionaries, including the one who was the head of the May 16
Army of the light industry college at that time.
121
00:19:36.050 --> 00:19:47.830 align:center line:-1
His name was XX. We were locked up together. There was
also XXX, from the politics and law cadre school. [We] were all locked up
together. Every day, the university students would be speaking
extravagantly and boasting.
122
00:19:47.840 --> 00:20:00.120 align:center line:-1
The university students were particularly good at talking
about books and telling stories. They had read a lot of books, including
The Count of Monte Cristo.
Actually, the first time I heard people discussing books, was hearing them
talk.
123
00:20:00.130 --> 00:20:18.760 align:center line:-1
They would memorize and recite Pushkin’s poetry,
Lermontov’s poetry. They’d recite Mayakovsky’s poetry and Gorky’s
books. In prison, [the environment] was so unusual, and what’s more, it
inspired me to read books.
124
00:20:18.770 --> 00:20:33.290 align:center line:-1
From there, I was transferred once again. Oh, it was Unit
12, [cell] number 4; [from there] to Unit 12, [cell] number 3. Then, they
transferred me to Unit 9, [cell] number 8.
125
00:20:33.300 --> 00:20:35.610 align:center line:-1
Interviewer: One unit was one corridor?
126
00:20:35.620 --> 00:20:42.570 align:center line:-1
One unit was one corridor. I went to Corridor 9, [cell]
number 8. In between [transfers], I’d gone through several
interrogations.
127
00:20:42.580 --> 00:21:00.540 align:center line:-1
There was a person in our prison named XXX who had a big
scar on his head where he’d tried to kill himself. He was the son of
Shaanxi peasants, and had passed the university entrance exam [and] gone to
the steel college—oh, no, [he studied at] Beijing International Studies
University.
128
00:21:00.550 --> 00:21:10.980 align:center line:-1
[A different person] was at the steel college. [This guy
was at] Beijing International Studies University. He studied Spanish at the
time. He cursed Jiang Qing and hated the Cultural Revolution.
129
00:21:10.990 --> 00:21:19.880 align:center line:-1
Because he was the child of peasants, getting into
university had not been easy. He believed that the Cultural Revolution had
destroyed the entire life he had conceived. Everyone was
self-interested.
130
00:21:19.890 --> 00:21:26.310 align:center line:-1
From this point of view, from his personal perspective,
[he] believed the Cultural Revolution was no good, and cursed Jiang
Qing—cursed her to high heaven.
131
00:21:26.320 --> 00:21:36.010 align:center line:-1
In prison, he would masturbate with all his might and
drink the semen. He had one goal, to [rape] Jiang Qing in the future. He
hated [Jiang Qing] to this degree.
132
00:21:36.020 --> 00:21:43.030 align:center line:-1
He also joined a study group later on. It was interesting.
So, at the time study groups used a very lenient attitude to admit
people.
133
00:21:43.040 --> 00:21:46.460 align:center line:-1
Interviewer: You keep mentioning study groups. Who
organized them?
134
00:21:46.470 --> 00:21:53.660 align:center line:-1
They were centrally organized by Chairman Mao. Don’t
worry, we’ll talk about that eventually. Soon we should get to the study
groups; [my description of] life in prison will finish up soon.
135
00:21:53.670 --> 00:22:02.670 align:center line:-1
There was another person in our prison. Later on, I knew
this guy was named XX. He studied astronomy at the planetarium. Later, he
was executed.
136
00:22:02.680 --> 00:22:11.040 align:center line:-1
He had disguised himself as a black person by painting his
face black with ink, and sneaking into the embassy [of an African country],
wanting to turn traitor.
137
00:22:11.050 --> 00:22:15.280 align:center line:-1
Interviewer: To turn traitor [and seek asylum] in
Africa?
138
00:22:15.290 --> 00:22:26.050 align:center line:-1
Turn traitor to Africa. As long as [he] wasn't sticking
around China, it didn't matter where he went. As a result of all this, he
was caught and put in prison. Later this guy was the same as Zhang Lang
Lang.
139
00:22:26.060 --> 00:22:37.690 align:center line:-1
They were both [members of] "The Sun Society," "The Sun
Column," this-or-that "X column." This kind of person, a great person also.
Later, [he] died in prison; [he] was executed.
140
00:22:37.700 --> 00:22:49.850 align:center line:-1
Because I wasn't locked up in the same place with Yu
Luoke, I didn't know how Yu Luoke died. We had another person there who was
executed later as well. This person was a traitor from the Communist Party
of Malaya.
141
00:22:49.860 --> 00:22:58.040 align:center line:-1
He had turned against the Party along with Lee Kuan Yew
[first prime minister of Singapore]. But Lee Kuan Yew stayed behind, gained
authority, and eventually became [prime minister].
142
00:22:58.050 --> 00:23:10.050 align:center line:-1
But not this [other] guy -- he was sent [to China] as a
special agent. As a result, when he got to Guangzhou, he was captured. That
was 1968. He was caught and locked up in our prison, then executed.
143
00:23:10.060 --> 00:23:19.990 align:center line:-1
So, in the prison you could see [types] of people you'd
never imagined, [hear] their stories and experiences. From other people's
[experiences] you could see society in miniature.
144
00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:30.350 align:center line:-1
In a society in which everyone was shouting "Long
live...!", in actuality, there were also a lot of other kinds [of people].
Of course, these other types could only be seen in prison.
145
00:23:30.360 --> 00:23:41.630 align:center line:-1
[People] like me [were rare]: I went to prison, but still
[shouted], "Long live Chairman Mao!" I was definitely the only one. One day
later on, the interrogator came to question me, told me to come out.
146
00:23:41.640 --> 00:23:48.990 align:center line:-1
It was already August or September by then. After [he]
told me to come out, [he] asked me about all of the details of the crime's
course of events, to wrap up the case.
147
00:23:49.000 --> 00:24:02.440 align:center line:-1
The main point was to ask how many people were involved,
[and] did so-and-so hit anyone? I said, "[He] certainly didn't. Is he [in
prison], too? Then you must immediately release him, [since] he absolutely
didn't beat anyone. He wanted to uphold justice, wanted to help me share
the blame.”
148
00:24:02.450 --> 00:24:15.930 align:center line:-1
I said, "If you don't believe me, I can go confront him."
Later, the [interrogator] said, "We released him back in June. He came into
prison, but spent every day thinking about world revolution."
149
00:24:15.940 --> 00:24:29.840 align:center line:-1
Because 1968 was very interesting. There was "Prague
Spring," and the French labor and student movements. At the time, of
France's 50 million people, 10 million took to the streets, [and] De Gaulle
stepped down.
150
00:24:29.850 --> 00:24:35.990 align:center line:-1
Later, someone explained this to me and said that De
Gaulle was actually extremely honorable. People had said [to De Gaulle],
"You ought to [arrest] Sartre."
151
00:24:36.000 --> 00:24:44.380 align:center line:-1
[Sartre] was a representative [figure] of expressionism.
[De Gaulle] said, "I cannot use government authority to arrest a scholar."
Later, [De Gaulle] preferred to step down on his own.
152
00:24:44.390 --> 00:24:55.250 align:center line:-1
He stipulated that after his death, he was to be buried in
a green island in a small river in his hometown. He wanted to hear the
sound of the church's clock bells every day.
153
00:24:55.260 --> 00:25:03.770 align:center line:-1
As a result, that place erected what was at the time the
world's largest cross. Moreover, at the time [of his death], one hundred
thousand people took part in his funeral procession.
154
00:25:03.780 --> 00:25:12.760 align:center line:-1
But in 1968, no one had imagined that in the turbulence of
the student movement, 10 million people would take to the streets. For
every five French people, one took to the streets.
155
00:25:12.770 --> 00:25:24.220 align:center line:-1
As a result, De Gaulle stepped down. Of course, Pompidou
replaced him, and what he carried out were De Gaulle's [policies]. So, I
think 1968 was a really turbulent year.
156
00:25:24.230 --> 00:25:41.270 align:center line:-1
Later, XXX was also released. [Also], what's really
important is that [the interrogator] asked me, "Did XXX beat anyone or
not?" I said, "XXX didn't beat [anyone]. I was always following behind him.
I ought to know clearly whether he hit anyone or not."
157
00:25:41.280 --> 00:25:55.480 align:center line:-1
Later, XXX entered the study group ahead of me. Also,
XXX's father was [politically okay]; he was [a member of] the Communist
Qiongya Column, a detachment leader. So, XXX was released.
158
00:25:55.490 --> 00:26:11.290 align:center line:-1
The police told me--I think it was the crime officer who
had decided that [only I had] beaten the boy to death. [The crime officer]
said to me, "Did you ever think, this thick of a club, with a square head,
this hard, it's made of mulberry wood."
159
00:26:11.300 --> 00:26:25.740 align:center line:-1
They had even found the weapon I'd used. [He said],
"Swinging [the club] and hitting someone on the back of the head, it would
be impossible not to smash his brains! Even without two people beating him,
he would've died."
160
00:26:25.750 --> 00:26:35.910 align:center line:-1
That police officer worked as a criminal investigator;
what he said was undoubtedly true. Actually I thought, I don't need to
defend myself. The objectivity and the truth were more important than
anything else.
161
00:26:35.920 --> 00:26:52.480 align:center line:-1
Later, after [we] finished speaking, another police
officer said to me very seriously, extremely seriously, "What were you guys
up to? Were you taking class revenge? Were you murdering for money? Was it
premeditated murder? No, it wasn't any of this!"
162
00:26:52.490 --> 00:26:59.530 align:center line:-1
At the time, I still didn't know I was entering the study
group. [I] just [heard someone say], "Students, you sit over here," and
[he] made us sit at...
163
00:26:59.540 --> 00:27:02.290 align:center line:-1
[Actually, we thought], "Students? What the...?!"
164
00:27:02.300 --> 00:27:04.850 align:center line:-1
Interviewer: [That was something] you hadn't heard for a
long time.
165
00:27:04.860 --> 00:27:11.560 align:center line:-1
It got our attention and we were tongue-tied! Amazing! How
could we have become students? Could it be that we are the People? [I
thought].
166
00:27:11.570 --> 00:27:22.280 align:center line:-1
A title could decide your political prospects. Right after
that, an aide from the number 12 corridor came in to call us together. Ours
was not the [only] cell for young people.
167
00:27:22.290 --> 00:27:27.690 align:center line:-1
As a result, another group of people also came out. There
must have been 8 to 10 people altogether. We all picked up our things and
went downstairs.
168
00:27:27.700 --> 00:27:36.170 align:center line:-1
Our stuff was quite heavy; we hadn't done any [heavy] work
in a while. My mom and dad really were kind to me, giving me such a thick
blanket and a thick mattress which were extremely heavy.
169
00:27:36.180 --> 00:27:48.170 align:center line:-1
[I] hefted them up and went downstairs. We walked to the
Plum Blossom Building. The Plum Blossom Building had five corridors. On one
corridor's second floor lived people like us.
170
00:27:48.180 --> 00:27:52.030 align:center line:-1
We thought we would stay there for the winter. In fact,
[we stayed there] for a while, and then an army representative came [and
said], "Students, you all come out."
171
00:27:52.040 --> 00:28:07.930 align:center line:-1
What was going on? [The army representative] said to us,
"Now, I represent Beijing Municipal Public Safety Bureau in announcing: [I]
represent the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in
accordance with Chairman Mao's highest directive that 'Establishing study
groups is a good practice,'...
172
00:28:07.940 --> 00:28:14.100 align:center line:-1
"it has been decided that you all will be sent to the
study group. [This will] offer you the best study environment [to] return
you to the ranks of the People as soon as possible." That was the first
thing.
173
00:28:14.110 --> 00:28:26.220 align:center line:-1
The second was that on the morning of September 28, the
day the study group began classes, the army representative said, "My name
is XXX; I am the vice political commissar of the 8341 army. I was a hong
xiaogui ['little red devil'].
174
00:28:26.230 --> 00:28:40.670 align:center line:-1
"Right now I represent the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of China, Chairman Mao, Vice Chairman Lin, Prime Minister
Zhou Enlai, and the Central Cultural Revolution [Small Group] in announcing
that you have been brought to the central study group.
175
00:28:40.680 --> 00:28:50.010 align:center line:-1
"An ox can be used to plow a field, and a horse can be
used to wage war--why can't a person be changed as well?!" Exclamation
mark!
176
00:28:50.020 --> 00:28:55.990 align:center line:-1
[He said,] "I announce to you, you have been brought to
the study group, are being given the best environment for study. [This
will] make you return to the ranks of the People as soon as possible."
177
00:28:56.000 --> 00:29:08.110 align:center line:-1
That's how classes began. I stayed in the third class of
the so-called July, August, and September [Central] Study Groups--which was
the last class of the study group--for four months, and left in 1969.
178
00:29:08.120 --> 00:29:16.510 align:center line:-1
In the course of this study group, there emerged some
incidents involving small counter-revolutionary factions who had set up [an
organization called] Kexue Tongmeng Shehui.
179
00:29:16.520 --> 00:29:29.310 align:center line:-1
[We] experienced this kind of thing. But what was more
important was that it let me meet more people, including XXX, XXX -- I got
to know a lot of people during the study group, and [we] developed good
relationships.
180
00:29:29.320 --> 00:29:41.220 align:center line:-1
After I left [the study group], what impacted me the most
was that I was free. But this freedom arose from the agreement of the
family of [the boy I'd killed], his father.
181
00:29:41.230 --> 00:29:55.990 align:center line:-1
What’s more, how far did his father go [in showing
tolerance toward me]? In April 2010, when he was facing death, he said to
his family, "One person will talk about what happened to my son. That year,
the old buried the young."
182
00:29:56.000 --> 00:30:09.990 align:center line:-1
In May [2010], he passed away. In May [2010],
Yanhuang Chunqiu
[China Through the
Ages] published my article, "Bearing Self-Blame
for Murder."
183
00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:12.180 align:center line:-1
Interviewer: That was the first time you publicly admitted
[guilt].
184
00:30:12.190 --> 00:30:19.930 align:center line:-1
The first time I'd owned up to it [publicly]. Of course,
two people helped me admit it. One was XXX, who had joined a production
team with us -- XXX's daughter.
185
00:30:19.940 --> 00:30:37.990 align:center line:-1
The other was XXX, the younger cousin of XXX. The two of
them said, "You consider yourself to be a brave person. Then why don't you
act as a [representative] of our generation, to stand up and admit
guilt?"
186
00:30:38.000 --> 00:30:45.700 align:center line:-1
I felt I ought to own up to it. If our generation doesn't
have anyone who stands up and says, "I did some bad things," or "The
Cultural Revolution was evil," then ours will be a failed generation.
187
00:30:45.710 --> 00:30:52.580 align:center line:-1
To keep from [perpetuating] this failure, I was willing to
take this risk. My wife said, "Do not forget, his family will look for
you."
188
00:30:52.590 --> 00:30:57.210 align:center line:-1
I said, "It's okay, I've thought about that. Evil must be
accounted for. What should be undertaken, must be undertaken."
189
00:30:57.220 --> 00:31:05.360 align:center line:-1
I never thought that when I publicly explained this
incident, [a television network] would also make a program, and [the boy's]
relatives would come along and say,
190
00:31:05.370 --> 00:31:15.920 align:center line:-1
"Can you please not use [the victim's] name? Our family's
decades-long tranquility was destroyed by you. We cannot forgive you, but
we admire [your courage to admit fault]."
191
00:31:15.930 --> 00:31:23.390 align:center line:-1
[The boy's] nephew said, "From the perspective of
politeness and morality, I ought to call you 'uncle,' but my family doesn't
forgive you. I won't call you [anything]."
192
00:31:23.400 --> 00:31:25.291 align:center line:-1
That's how it all went.
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