WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:12.790 align:center line:-1Interviewer: Thank you for accepting my interview. Could you tell me when you were born? You don’t have to be too specific; just “1950s,” “1960s,” “1970s,” etc. will do. 2 00:00:12.800 --> 00:00:14.890 align:center line:-1 I was born in the 1960s. 3 00:00:14.900 --> 00:00:22.300 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: Where did you live in China from 1966 to 1976? 4 00:00:22.310 --> 00:00:32.000 align:center line:-1 I mainly lived in two northern cities in Hebei Province -- Changli and Tangshan. 5 00:00:32.010 --> 00:00:44.090 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: You must have many memories of that decade to talk about. 6 00:00:44.100 --> 00:00:51.790 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: But, if we only give you ten minutes -- in other words, during the first ten minutes of the interview, what memories directly come to mind? 7 00:00:51.800 --> 00:00:56.690 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: What do you most want to share with us? 8 00:00:56.700 --> 00:01:20.490 align:center line:-1 Based on my own experiences, I think it was a relatively happy time. I mean, compared with today’s kids of the same age, I feel that I was very happy at that time. 9 00:01:20.500 --> 00:01:24.490 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: [Is it] because there was no homework, no pressure, and no exam-oriented education [at that time]? 10 00:01:24.500 --> 00:01:31.590 align:center line:-1 We still had homework, but not that much. Also, it seemed like it was pretty easy to finish. 11 00:01:31.600 --> 00:01:40.690 align:center line:-1 I had a lot of time to play with my friends, although I also did my homework after school. 12 00:01:40.700 --> 00:01:46.390 align:center line:-1 After I started elementary school, I spent most of my time with my paternal grandparents in Tangshan. 13 00:01:46.400 --> 00:01:54.190 align:center line:-1 I remember that my family’s living conditions were not so good, because my grandparents were greatly impacted by the Cultural Revolution, 14 00:01:54.200 --> 00:02:00.590 align:center line:-1 so they were thrown out of a relatively large house and only given one small room. 15 00:02:00.600 --> 00:02:14.490 align:center line:-1 There was almost no furniture in the room. We had a big stool, and a small stool, and I sat on the smaller stool and used the larger one as a desk to do my homework. 16 00:02:14.500 --> 00:02:35.140 align:center line:-1 After I finished doing homework, I went out to play with my friends, jumping rope and playing hopscotch. I felt happy back then. 17 00:02:35.150 --> 00:02:44.190 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: I see. So, you don’t have many miserable memories of that period, right? Your childhood was happy. 18 00:02:44.200 --> 00:02:47.990 align:center line:-1 Yes, I felt childhood was happy. 19 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:57.090 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: Do you feel that your experiences during the Cultural Revolution impacted your life after you grew up? 20 00:02:57.100 --> 00:03:05.890 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: Did that period of time have a particular influence on your personal life, and if so, what was it? 21 00:03:05.900 --> 00:03:17.290 align:center line:-1 It’s hard to say. If the Cultural Revolution had not happened, my family environment might have been very different. 22 00:03:17.300 --> 00:03:23.690 align:center line:-1 Right now, I can recall some memories [of that period] that my parents told me about. 23 00:03:23.700 --> 00:03:33.390 align:center line:-1 For example, why did I end up living with my grandparents? 24 00:03:33.400 --> 00:03:49.490 align:center line:-1 It was because my parents worked at a fruit tree research institute, and my mother often needed to go to work in the chestnut groves, such as in Zunhua, 25 00:03:49.500 --> 00:04:01.190 align:center line:-1 to gain firsthand experience by working with a grassroots unit, and carry out the idea of “combining theory and practice.” 26 00:04:01.200 --> 00:04:11.690 align:center line:-1 In addition, my father was “beaten down” and lived in the “cow shed,” so they sent me to my grandparents’ home. 27 00:04:11.700 --> 00:04:17.690 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: So, you spent more time living with your grandparents than with your parents. 28 00:04:17.700 --> 00:04:25.690 align:center line:-1 Yes. If not for the Cultural Revolution, I would have spent a relatively longer time with my parents. 29 00:04:25.700 --> 00:04:33.290 align:center line:-1 Sometimes I think this might be a big influence that the Cultural Revolution had on me. 30 00:04:33.300 --> 00:04:43.290 align:center line:-1 Within my childhood memories, I don’t have that many memories of my parents. 31 00:04:43.300 --> 00:04:54.240 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: I see. I think your situation was quite common at that time. Many children grew up with their grandparents. 32 00:04:54.250 --> 00:05:05.980 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: From today’s perspective, spending so little time with one’s parents as a child might have a somewhat [negative] impact on one’s growth. 33 00:05:05.990 --> 00:05:23.590 align:center line:-1 Yes, I agree, it might. Now that I have children of my own, and my parents come to live with me half of every year, they can see how I interact with my kids. 34 00:05:23.600 --> 00:05:34.590 align:center line:-1 My parents also care about the growth of my children very much; every time they come across books on childhood education, they buy them for me. 35 00:05:34.600 --> 00:05:45.190 align:center line:-1 One time they told me that they have always felt regret about [the lack of] my own childhood education. 36 00:05:45.200 --> 00:05:53.390 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: Maybe they even feel guilty about spending too little time with you and not giving you a good childhood, right? 37 00:05:53.400 --> 00:05:55.990 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: I absolutely understand such feelings. It’s really interesting. 38 00:05:56.000 --> 00:06:11.390 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: I feel like among the many people I have interviewed, you are the first one who pointed this out, which was quite a true experience [during that time]. 39 00:06:11.400 --> 00:06:24.690 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: Also, generally speaking, for little children, spending little time with parents during a special period of growth must have an underlying impact on their lives. 40 00:06:24.700 --> 00:06:48.390 align:center line:-1 Yes. But relatively speaking, because I spent more time with my grandparents, I think I have inherited more from them than from my parents. 41 00:06:48.400 --> 00:06:53.690 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: For sure. Did your grandparents pass away? 42 00:06:53.700 --> 00:06:57.110 align:center line:-1 Yes, they died in the Tangshan Earthquake [1976]. 43 00:06:57.120 --> 00:07:01.990 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: Oh! They both died during the Tangshan Earthquake? 44 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:10.390 align:center line:-1 Yes. The situation at that time was this: my paternal grandparents, my younger sister, and I all lived in Tangshan at that time. 45 00:07:10.400 --> 00:07:24.490 align:center line:-1 My little sister moved from Changli to Tangshan when she was five, exactly as I had, and we happened to be there during the Tangshan Earthquake. 46 00:07:24.500 --> 00:07:27.090 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: So, you were the only survivor out of these four? 47 00:07:27.100 --> 00:07:30.140 align:center line:-1 Yes. 48 00:07:30.150 --> 00:07:33.790 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: Wow. So you lived with your parents after that? 49 00:07:33.800 --> 00:07:44.890 align:center line:-1 Yes. After the Tangshan Earthquake, I went back to Changli. That was 1976. The earthquake happened in 1976, and then I went back to Changli. 50 00:07:44.900 --> 00:07:47.590 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: That is tragic. 51 00:07:47.600 --> 00:08:00.290 align:center line:-1 Yes. Actually, there were a lot of families like us. The official death toll of the Tangshan Earthquake was 250,000, but I think the actual number is much bigger than it. 52 00:08:00.300 --> 00:08:03.490 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: I didn't imagine that my interview would [touch on this event]. 53 00:08:03.500 --> 00:08:11.980 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: Of course, the Tangshan Earthquake was a huge event that [everyone in China] knew about, but you are the only person I know who actually experienced it, 54 00:08:11.990 --> 00:08:23.290 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: ...and furthermore, you had three family members die during that time. [Sigh…] OK. Thank you very much for accepting my interview. 55 00:08:23.300 --> 00:08:24.200 align:center line:-1 Thank you.
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