WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.960 --> 00:00:05.920 align:center line:-1Interviewer: Hello. Thank you for accepting my interview. 2 00:00:05.930 --> 00:00:10.690 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: Could you tell me when you were born? 3 00:00:10.700 --> 00:00:16.990 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: You can just say the decade, if you like – "‘50s," "‘60s," etc. 4 00:00:17.000 --> 00:00:20.940 align:center line:-1 I was born in 1955. 5 00:00:20.950 --> 00:00:29.790 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: Could you tell me where you lived during the decade between 1966 and 1976? 6 00:00:29.800 --> 00:00:43.290 align:center line:-1 I lived in Huachuan County of Jiamusi City -- actually, it was a farm of the Corps, belonging to the Heilongjiang Production and Construction Corps, 3rd Division, 30th Regiment. 7 00:00:43.300 --> 00:00:46.150 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: Wow, you remember it so clearly. 8 00:00:46.160 --> 00:00:51.840 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: You said that you were born in the ‘50s, so we are the same generation. 9 00:00:51.850 --> 00:00:58.030 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: We both experienced that decade, but each of our memories are surely different. 10 00:00:58.040 --> 00:01:03.380 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: So, if I give you only ten minutes to speak freely about anything you want concerning the Cultural Revolution -- 11 00:01:03.390 --> 00:01:31.010 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: – your thoughts, comments, memories, how it affected your life later on, etc.– what would you say? You may say anything you like. 12 00:01:31.020 --> 00:01:41.570 align:center line:-1 When the Cultural Revolution began in 1966, I was only about 11 or 12 years old – about to go to middle school. 13 00:01:41.580 --> 00:01:53.570 align:center line:-1 I followed others to join the Cultural Revolution, becoming a member of the Red Guards when it was founded. 14 00:01:53.580 --> 00:02:03.300 align:center line:-1 We went house to house every day spreading Mao Zedong Thought, standing in a row of five to eight people, 15 00:02:03.310 --> 00:02:06.690 align:center line:-1 and reciting lines from Quotations from Chairman Mao. 16 00:02:06.700 --> 00:02:10.020 align:center line:-1 Each person recited one paragraph, before we finished and moved on to the next house. 17 00:02:10.030 --> 00:02:13.240 align:center line:-1 Because the performance was meant to publicize Mao Zedong Thought, every family was very respectful, 18 00:02:13.250 --> 00:02:17.860 align:center line:-1 listening to our recitations in reverence and silence. 19 00:02:17.870 --> 00:02:22.790 align:center line:-1 After we finished the recitation performance at one house, we bowed to Chairman Mao’s portrait and moved on to the next house. 20 00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:24.580 align:center line:-1 I remember this clearly. 21 00:02:24.590 --> 00:02:30.600 align:center line:-1 Another thing [that I remember] is that during the Cultural Revolution, our Corps was divided into two factions, 22 00:02:30.610 --> 00:02:33.550 align:center line:-1 and started engaging in violent struggle. 23 00:02:33.560 --> 00:02:46.310 align:center line:-1 During that period, my brother, who was two years older than I, formally joined a Cultural Revolution combat team. 24 00:02:46.320 --> 00:02:51.090 align:center line:-1 My father also joined a combat team. I don’t remember the exact names of these two teams – 25 00:02:51.100 --> 00:02:54.380 align:center line:-1 maybe one was the Royalists, while the other was the anti-Royalists. 26 00:02:54.390 --> 00:02:55.040 align:center line:-1 Anyway, they were opposites. 27 00:02:55.050 --> 00:02:58.480 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: Oh, your father and brother belonged to opposite teams! 28 00:02:58.490 --> 00:03:03.250 align:center line:-1 Yes, they were opposites. Then, they started to quarrel every time they had a meal together at home. 29 00:03:03.260 --> 00:03:09.100 align:center line:-1 One said that his team was “revolutionary,” while the other said the same thing about his team. 30 00:03:09.110 --> 00:03:13.990 align:center line:-1 Every time they parted on bad terms. But actually, we did not have any real violent struggle there. 31 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:17.990 align:center line:-1 One thing I remember really clearly is that… [You know,] we belonged to different companies of troops, 32 00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:22.050 align:center line:-1 and every company had its own combat team. 33 00:03:22.060 --> 00:03:25.890 align:center line:-1 The entire regiment was divided into two parties, and one was usually tougher than the other. 34 00:03:25.900 --> 00:03:29.190 align:center line:-1 There was one time when we were all ready for the violent struggle. 35 00:03:29.200 --> 00:03:41.510 align:center line:-1 All of the tractors were covered with iron sheets except for two holes in the front, and you could reach out on the side to grab a “zhaqiang.” 36 00:03:41.520 --> 00:03:44.830 align:center line:-1 At that time, every home had those. 37 00:03:44.840 --> 00:03:46.770 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: “Zhaqiang” ? What is that? 38 00:03:46.780 --> 00:03:51.990 align:center line:-1 It’s one of those red-tasseled spears. 39 00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:55.990 align:center line:-1 So every family prepared a “zhaqiang,” as well some long iron rods. 40 00:03:56.000 --> 00:03:59.750 align:center line:-1 Some places had hunting rifles, too. 41 00:03:59.760 --> 00:04:08.950 align:center line:-1 One event I remember very clearly is when someone said the rebel party intended to attack the other party in our company. 42 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:14.600 align:center line:-1 It scared us so much that every house closed its windows, and many other places, such as our dining hall, 43 00:04:14.610 --> 00:04:19.950 align:center line:-1 were sealed up by bolting all the entrances -- only leaving a small opening behind. 44 00:04:19.960 --> 00:04:28.690 align:center line:-1 At that time, people like my father were all holding weapons in the dining hall and getting ready to fight, 45 00:04:28.700 --> 00:04:36.340 align:center line:-1 while we stayed at home, not daring to come out and just watching the other companies’ trucks hurtling past us. 46 00:04:36.350 --> 00:04:39.540 align:center line:-1 But it ended okay; we did not have a fight that time. 47 00:04:39.550 --> 00:04:41.900 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: What kind of [trucks]? Those adapted from tractors? 48 00:04:41.910 --> 00:04:54.630 align:center line:-1 Yes, the ones adapted from tractors, plus “yetes,” which are four-wheeled tractors, and caterpillar tractors. 49 00:04:54.640 --> 00:05:01.340 align:center line:-1 People from the other faction on the truck held red-tasseled spears, crowbars, and hunting rifles. 50 00:05:01.350 --> 00:05:03.170 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: Sounds scary. 51 00:05:03.180 --> 00:05:09.460 align:center line:-1 It was really scary. The two parties in my company were not usually violent. 52 00:05:09.470 --> 00:05:17.500 align:center line:-1 They just debated. Because everyone knew each other in the company, the situation was not that serious. 53 00:05:17.510 --> 00:05:22.980 align:center line:-1 Another thing is that sometimes we had struggle meetings that every one of us attended. 54 00:05:22.990 --> 00:05:30.080 align:center line:-1 Every party gathered in a certain company, and every company had its rebel party hold the struggle meeting in one place. 55 00:05:30.090 --> 00:05:34.990 align:center line:-1 They criticized current officials, like the factories’ leaders and the companies’ leaders. 56 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:38.740 align:center line:-1 At that time, those people were all denounced. 57 00:05:38.750 --> 00:05:44.390 align:center line:-1 They also held oath-taking rallies, and I attended a few -- they were quite interesting. 58 00:05:44.400 --> 00:05:50.480 align:center line:-1 In addition, during the Cultural Revolution, people from bad family backgrounds were hugely impacted, 59 00:05:50.490 --> 00:05:58.140 align:center line:-1 especially landlords and the Rightists sent down to our Corps during the Anti-Rightist campaign. 60 00:05:58.150 --> 00:06:07.420 align:center line:-1 Some of them were senior intellectuals, and they felt dejected, being sent to our Corps. 61 00:06:07.430 --> 00:06:17.460 align:center line:-1 The worst was that some people took the opportunity to retaliate against those people from bad family backgrounds. 62 00:06:17.470 --> 00:06:24.380 align:center line:-1 Some children we knew -- who were only five or six years older than us -- took leather belts, 63 00:06:24.390 --> 00:06:28.510 align:center line:-1 and beat [the people with bad family backgrounds] to struggle against them. 64 00:06:28.520 --> 00:06:32.400 align:center line:-1 Nobody dared to ask for compassion for [those people]. They looked pitiful. 65 00:06:32.410 --> 00:06:37.950 align:center line:-1 So I remember, the Cultural Revolution was very clear and strict concerning its principle on family background. 66 00:06:37.960 --> 00:06:44.930 align:center line:-1 If you were born with a bad family background, you had zero opportunities, not even the chance to be a soldier or go to school. 67 00:06:44.940 --> 00:06:52.300 align:center line:-1 And later on, after 1967, ‘68, and ‘69, the Educated Youth went “up to the mountains and down to the countryside.” 68 00:06:52.310 --> 00:06:54.210 align:center line:-1 Although it was still during the Cultural Revolution, 69 00:06:54.220 --> 00:07:01.780 align:center line:-1 the Educated Youth started to form the “grand alliance” after they were sent down, and in general there was no more violent struggle. 70 00:07:01.790 --> 00:07:09.780 align:center line:-1 The political alliances were more popular (and severe) during that period of time, and all the violent struggle combat teams were eliminated. 71 00:07:09.790 --> 00:07:15.600 align:center line:-1 The Educated Youth came from all over China, such as Harbin, Beijing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou. 72 00:07:15.610 --> 00:07:23.790 align:center line:-1 They got along with the local people very well. 73 00:07:23.800 --> 00:07:28.700 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: Yes. You reminded me of the “grand alliances” that we had back at that time. 74 00:07:28.710 --> 00:07:34.330 align:center line:-1 Right. At that time, after forming the “grand alliance,” especially for places like ours where violent struggle was not very common, 75 00:07:34.340 --> 00:07:39.640 align:center line:-1 people united quite quickly, and later, some senior cadres were released as well. 76 00:07:39.650 --> 00:07:45.300 align:center line:-1 And then, there came the military controls, because, you know, we belonged to the Corps at that time. 77 00:07:45.310 --> 00:07:53.380 align:center line:-1 Then, the active service members of the Corps, such as the regimental commanders and chiefs of staff 78 00:07:53.390 --> 00:07:55.990 align:center line:-1 – people wearing collar and cap insignia – all came down to our place. 79 00:07:56.000 --> 00:07:58.990 align:center line:-1 They were “active service members.” 80 00:07:59.000 --> 00:08:08.270 align:center line:-1 Some companies also dispatched workers propaganda teams as well as...what were they called? Army propaganda teams -- they came, too. 81 00:08:08.280 --> 00:08:23.260 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: What do you mean by “coming down”? Did they retire? 82 00:08:23.270 --> 00:08:31.130 align:center line:-1 No, they didn’t retire, but it was no longer like being in the army. 83 00:08:31.140 --> 00:08:41.230 align:center line:-1 Back at that time, we called ourselves “the local Eighth Route Army” under control and command of active service members, 84 00:08:41.240 --> 00:08:54.590 align:center line:-1 not demobilized service members. Demobilized service members did not wear badges on their collars or caps. 85 00:08:54.600 --> 00:08:56.890 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: During the violent struggle, did the active service members take part? 86 00:08:56.900 --> 00:08:58.540 align:center line:-1 No, at the time of the violent struggle, there were not any active service members. 87 00:08:58.550 --> 00:09:00.080 align:center line:-1 It was still a farm at that time. 88 00:09:00.090 --> 00:09:04.820 align:center line:-1 When we first moved in at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, it was a farm; later on it was adapted into a Corps. 89 00:09:04.830 --> 00:09:07.180 align:center line:-1 We were the Production and Construction Corps, and we belonged to the 3rd Division, 30th Regiment. 90 00:09:07.190 --> 00:09:08.940 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: Then after [it became a Corps], you started to have active service members joining in? 91 00:09:08.950 --> 00:09:12.690 align:center line:-1 Yes. It was later on that we had active service members commanding us. 92 00:09:12.700 --> 00:09:26.790 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: You remember a lot of details. Did the Cultural Revolution impact your family or personal life? 93 00:09:26.800 --> 00:09:28.340 align:center line:-1 It seems like it didn’t have a particular influence. 94 00:09:28.350 --> 00:09:33.260 align:center line:-1 During the Cultural Revolution, ordinary people still focused on what they needed to do, 95 00:09:33.270 --> 00:09:36.830 align:center line:-1 because we had farms, and I remember we still had private plots at that time. 96 00:09:36.840 --> 00:09:43.900 align:center line:-1 Although Deng Xiaoping and Liu Shaoqi were severely criticized, we kept farming around our house, 97 00:09:43.910 --> 00:09:50.030 align:center line:-1 and were even assigned some private plots for a few years. 98 00:09:50.040 --> 00:09:57.720 align:center line:-1 Every year there was a sign put up saying which piece of land was ours, and that we could plough it. 99 00:09:57.730 --> 00:10:02.940 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: That’s good. I found it an interesting detail that your father and brother belonged to different factions. [Laughs.] 100 00:10:02.950 --> 00:10:10.990 align:center line:-1 Yes. They both attempted to persuade the other to quit his combat team, but neither of them succeeded. 101 00:10:11.000 --> 00:10:17.740 align:center line:-1 However, in the end, it was always my father who got angry and scared my brother. 102 00:10:17.750 --> 00:10:24.160 align:center line:-1 It was his patriarchal style, acting like he was going to hit [my brother] when debate and persuasion didn’t work. 103 00:10:24.170 --> 00:10:27.180 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: Do you have anything else you want to say? 104 00:10:27.190 --> 00:10:34.670 align:center line:-1 If you want to talk about a ten-year period, that’s a long time, ’66 to ’76. 105 00:10:34.680 --> 00:10:36.590 align:center line:-1 In the later stage of the Cultural Revolution, Educated Youth 106 00:10:36.600 --> 00:10:41.570 align:center line:-1 going “up to the mountains and down to the countryside” gave local cultural enterprises a lot of help, 107 00:10:41.580 --> 00:10:45.070 align:center line:-1 since when they came down, we had already started to “resume classes and make revolution.” 108 00:10:45.080 --> 00:10:49.490 align:center line:-1 It was around 1967 and 1968 when we started to “resume classes and make revolution.” 109 00:10:49.500 --> 00:10:54.700 align:center line:-1 During the early phase [of the Cultural Revolution], we had "suspended classes to make revolution." 110 00:10:54.710 --> 00:10:59.190 align:center line:-1 After we started “resuming classes and making revolution,” generally it was the Educated Youth who came to act as our teachers. 111 00:10:59.200 --> 00:11:04.840 align:center line:-1 Their level of cultural cultivation was much higher than that of us local people…We benefited a lot from them. 112 00:11:04.850 --> 00:11:12.750 align:center line:-1 They had a great positive influence on our culture and thinking, every aspect. 113 00:11:12.760 --> 00:11:20.020 align:center line:-1 They brought their urban ideas to our local place. This was really good. 114 00:11:20.030 --> 00:11:26.490 align:center line:-1 Later, in 1971, I started to work. 115 00:11:26.500 --> 00:11:29.480 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: Where did those Educated Youth come from? Beijing? Shanghai? 116 00:11:29.490 --> 00:11:34.680 align:center line:-1 [They came from places such as] Beijing, Shanghai, Harbin, Hangzhou – all over. 117 00:11:34.690 --> 00:11:42.310 align:center line:-1 In addition, I remember clearly that these Educated Youths were divided into factions, based on the places they had come from. 118 00:11:42.320 --> 00:11:45.290 align:center line:-1 They also got into fights from time to time. 119 00:11:45.300 --> 00:11:48.280 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: What was their relationship with local people? 120 00:11:48.290 --> 00:11:51.350 align:center line:-1 It was excellent -- quite harmonious. 121 00:11:51.360 --> 00:11:55.450 align:center line:-1 At that time, in response to appeals from Chairman Mao, 122 00:11:55.460 --> 00:12:00.590 align:center line:-1 the Educated Youths went “up to the mountains and down to the countryside” to receive re-education from Poor and Lower-Middle Peasants. 123 00:12:00.600 --> 00:12:03.590 align:center line:-1 Most of the Educated Youths were humble about receiving education from the peasants, 124 00:12:03.600 --> 00:12:08.820 align:center line:-1 and the peasants were also open-minded about learning from them, because they had never received much education. 125 00:12:08.830 --> 00:12:11.200 align:center line:-1 They maintained a relatively good rapport with each other. 126 00:12:11.210 --> 00:12:18.050 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: I think this is an interesting interview -- you thought about the Educated Youths from the perspective of the local people. 127 00:12:18.060 --> 00:12:25.490 align:center line:-1 Right! If we hadn’t had [the influence of] these Educated Youths, [we] could not have done better in college and work. 128 00:12:25.500 --> 00:12:30.680 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: So, you can affirm their influence on the local culture. 129 00:12:30.690 --> 00:12:43.910 align:center line:-1 Yes. Without them, our local culture and education could not have reached a higher level. 130 00:12:43.920 --> 00:12:45.940 align:center line:-1 There were quite a lot of Educated Youths coming down to our place, 131 00:12:45.950 --> 00:12:51.130 align:center line:-1 and msot had been highly educated in the cities -- especially those from the “old three classes.” 132 00:12:51.140 --> 00:12:56.750 align:center line:-1 What’s more, they worked hard and integrated with the locals. 133 00:12:56.760 --> 00:13:03.370 align:center line:-1 Teaching greatly depended on them. Wasn’t it in 1972 that we started to have Worker-Peasant-Soldier students? 134 00:13:03.380 --> 00:13:07.460 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: Did those [Educated Youth] from the city actually stay in the countryside? 135 00:13:07.470 --> 00:13:15.240 align:center line:-1 Some of them actually stayed and integrated with the local people; for example, some married local people. 136 00:13:15.250 --> 00:13:19.300 align:center line:-1 After marrying a local, they waited to go back to the city, but had no way to go back, so they stayed in the countryside. 137 00:13:19.310 --> 00:13:23.670 align:center line:-1 Even now, there are a few from the Corps still there, but those are rare cases. 138 00:13:23.680 --> 00:13:30.590 align:center line:-1 Most of the Educated Youths left. Some divorced in order to go back to the city. Only a few stayed. 139 00:13:30.600 --> 00:13:38.620 align:center line:-1 I want to say that these Educated Youths were very helpful to us. 140 00:13:38.630 --> 00:13:42.590 align:center line:-1 At that time, if you went to college, you were a Worker-Peasant-Soldier student. 141 00:13:42.600 --> 00:13:48.870 align:center line:-1 We local people thought going to college was something only for the Educated Youths – we didn’t even dream about [attending college]. 142 00:13:48.880 --> 00:13:55.590 align:center line:-1 Although it was true that it was mostly Educated Youths selected as Worker-Peasant-Soldier students, 143 00:13:55.600 --> 00:13:59.290 align:center line:-1 some local people also “borrowed the glory” and were recommended [for college admission]. 144 00:13:59.300 --> 00:14:05.320 align:center line:-1 I was a Worker-Peasant-Soldier student; I followed [the Educated Youths] and went to college in 1975. 145 00:14:05.330 --> 00:14:08.220 align:center line:-1 That was when the Cultural Revolution was almost over. 146 00:14:08.230 --> 00:14:12.120 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: Thank you for accepting my interview. 147 00:14:12.130 --> 00:14:13.267 align:center line:-1 Sure.
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