Interviewer: Thank you for accepting my interview. Could you tell me when you were born? You can just name the decade.
I was born in the 1960s.
Interviewer: Could you tell me where in China you lived between 1966 and 1976?
My family lived in Nanjing from 1966 to 1970. We moved to Guangdong in 1970, and then to Shanghai in 1976.
Interviewer: Since you were born in the 1960s, you may not have many strong memories of the Cultural Revolution.
I remember a little bit. In 1966, when [everyone] was writing the “big-character posters,” my mom sent my grandma back to her hometown.
I grew up with my grandma, and she spoiled me a lot.
So, I remember it very well – I was sad when she left, since I was very dependent on her.
After that, my parents went to May 7 cadre school and sent me to a boarding kindergarten.
I have an especially deep memory of this -- I remember that my grandma was gone, and I didn’t know anybody in the kindergarten, so I did not like going.
Every time my parents took me to the kindergarten, the teacher held onto me and asked my parents to say goodbye quickly.
Interviewer: Do you remember whether or not your mother said why your grandma was sent back to her hometown?
[It was] because of the Cultural Revolution. [People] started writing “big-character posters.”
Grandma’s family background was bad – [she came from] rich peasant landlords.
Interviewer: Where was [your grandma’s] hometown?
Hunan.
During that time, landlords were criticized with “big-character posters.”
My mom said the elderly could not bear it, and it would also have a bad effect on the children.
In addition, my brother was [already] about 10 years old. So [they] sent my grandma away.
Interviewer: So your grandma stayed in her hometown from then on?
No, she came back later -- many years later, back to Shanghai.
I remember that time left a deep impression on me.
My parents went to the May 7 cadre school.
My brother was probably also sent to full-time childcare. I can’t quite remember.
I remember what left a deep impression on me was that [my parents told me they] would pick me up [from kindergarten] on Saturdays.
I thought, hey, how come some kids get picked up on Fridays?
I remember staring out the window, waiting for them to come.
Sometimes it was Saturday afternoon before they got there.
I waited so anxiously. Many years later, I talked about this with my parents, and they felt guilty about it, too.
But at that time, because of their situation, they had no way around it.
They were under intense pressure – “big-character posters, May 7 cadre school,” and everything else.
Their position is understandable.
Interviewer: What happened then? Did you hear about their experiences?
Actually, I have some impression of it.
Sometimes on the weekend, we’d go home.
[During the] Cultural Revolution, our family lived in Nanjing. At one point we lived near Zhongshan Gate – we were so close, we’d often go to Zhongshan Gate to play.
Next to our house was the Mechanical and Electrical School.
My parents worked for the geology department, and after they arrived in Guangdong, they worked for an ocean research institute.
One day -- I don’t remember how I ended up going there -- I saw a group of young people hiding behind the [Mechanical and Electrical School] building,
holding sticks and spears and saying that their opponents were on their way.
I saw a group of kids running towards us, also holding those red-tasseled spears.
I heard someone say “Run!” so I ran away, not even daring to look back.
I did not witness what happened next, but later I heard that the violent struggle was really fierce that day.
Interviewer: Were they college students?
Yes, [they were] from the Electrical Engineering School – they must’ve been college students.
Interviewer: You must’ve been very small [at that time], but you had the courage to go watch [them fighting] -- you must’ve been following other children, right?
Probably. I don’t remember exactly how I got there, just that I got scared and ran away when the others did.
I only came back on weekends -- because I was staying in full-time childcare.
Interviewer: Do you think the decade of the Cultural Revolution impacted your life later? Are you interested in this topic?
The impact wasn’t that deep.
During the later phase of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), there was not as serious an impact as in the early stage, and after all, life was relatively simple at that time.
I remember collecting some things, like stamps, candy wrappers… My family collected Chairman Mao badges.
We collected hundreds of them and liked to compare, to see who had newer ones.
After the Cultural Revolution, we had many boxes of Chairman Mao badges, and I didn’t know what to do with them.
Interviewer: I remember we also had the same experience.
We also compared whose Chairman Mao badges were more beautiful.
Interviewer: Where did your parents attend the May 7 cadre school?
It must’ve been in suburban Nanjing, since my family was in Nanjing.
I don’t remember them going elsewhere.
Interviewer: You know, there were not many people who lived in as many places as you did during the decade of the Cultural Revolution.
Right. [My parents] moved with their work units.
I still remember that their entire work unit moved from Nanjing to Guangdong to work on oil and geological exploration.
On the train to Guangdong, their work unit reserved two or three sleeper cars, and all the adults and children I knew were on them.
They were all from the same work unit.
We stayed in Guangdong for many years.
Even though Guangdong was experiencing the Cultural Revolution as well, it didn’t seem to be impacted that much, being far [from the capital.]
Interviewer: That’s something I wanted to ask you about -- if you lived in so many places, your feelings about the Cultural Revolution might be different from those who stayed in one place.
When we moved to Guangdong, we were like foreigners. Local Guangdong people spoke Cantonese, and their lifestyle was also different.
At the time, we lived in Zhanjiang. Zhanjiang is on Leizhou Peninsula, across the [Qingzhou] Strait from Hainan Island.
In addition to my parents’ work unit, there were many [other] non-locals living there, as well as three big Naval divisions –the Political Department,
the Military Command Department, and the Logistics Department.
So we often hung out with [their children] a lot, and we spoke Mandarin at school.
Actually, our Cantonese was not very good, because we did not have frequent interactions with the local Guangdong people.
Interviewer: It seems it wasn’t much like Beijing, where some work units went on strike, or stopped production to make revolution.
Interviewer: [It seems like] your parents were still working during that time.
Yes. Except for some minor effects in the early stage, [they] were still working, including the time when Xisha was at war.
My family was in Guangdong at that time. Some of my parents’ coworkers happened to be on a work-related trip on Xisha Island at that time.
Later, they told us they hid in the basement, not even knowing that Xisha was at war.
It was only after they came out that they knew what was going on.
Interviewer: Maybe it differed between work units.
Interviewer: Not every unit was focused on the revolution -- your parents’ unit worked as usual, like many army units – a lot of them weren’t involved in the Cultural Revolution.
Right. [The Cultural Revolution] had little influence on Guangdong, because [we were] far outside the government’s control.
My father began to learn English in 1972, 1973; he listened to broadcasts from Hong Kong, listened to Voice of America.
I have a deep impression of this.
Interviewer: Oh really? You could listen to [the radio from Hong Kong] during the Cultural Revolution?
Yes. I remember clearly, it was before 1976, and he even asked for a book to be sent to him from Hong Kong.
The book was produced really nicely, with very thin, almost transparent, but high-quality paper.
Every time my father listened to VOA, we would all know it.
[Hums “Yankee Doodle”]: “This is the Voice of America” – we thought it was funny, this little “bourgeois” sound.
Interviewer: If this had happened in Beijing, VOA would have been the enemy station.
Yes, but Guangdong is far away [from the capital].
Interviewer: Your experiences are really interesting.
Most of the people I’ve interviewed stayed in one place during those ten years, but you moved between three locations.
Yes. I remember that when I was on the train to Shanghai in 1976, I heard the news that [Premier] Zhou Enlai had passed away.
Everyone was shocked and looked serious. I remember that very well.
Interviewer: Very good. Thank you again for the interview.
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