WEBVTT
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You ask a question first, right?
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Interviewer: Right. Hi. Thank you for accepting my
interview.
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First, could you please tell me the decade in which you
were born, such as "'60s," "'70s," or "'80s"?
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I was born in the '70s.
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Interviewer: Where did you live in China?
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My home is in Sichuan [Province].
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Interviewer: If you were born in the '70s, you probably
don't have any direct impression of the Cultural Revolution, since you were
so small.
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Interviewer: The Cultural Revolution ended in 1976; even
if you were born in 1970, you would have only been six then.
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Interviewer: If you were born in '79 you would not have
experienced it at all.
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Interviewer: So, my question is, as far as you can
remember, when was the first time you knew something about this historical
event, the Cultural Revolution?
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It must have been before 1976.
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Although I was small, there were some things that gave me
an understanding of the Cultural Revolution.
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First of all, my family is quite large, and I have a lot
of cousins on my mom's side who are older than I am. Some are more than 10
years older.
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So, at that time, one of the major things they faced was
going "up to the mountains and down to the countryside."
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Some of them had already gone. [Others] were about to
go.
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Though I was small at the time, I have memories of my
parents and my aunt talking about where my cousins had gone,
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and then later, about helping them get back to the
city.
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I remember them discussing such things often. I have an
impression that's still quite deep.
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One time, my parents said that if, when [my brothers and
sisters and I] were older,
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Educated Youth were still being sent "up to the mountains
and down to the countryside," they would be really scared.
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Interviewer: So, through "up through the mountains and
down to the countryside," you had an idea about the Cultural
Revolution.
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Right. Also, at that time, my parents were trying their
hardest to think of a way to avoid ["up to the mountains and down to the
countryside"].
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My memory of this is really strong.
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At that time, I was really little, and I heard my parents
say there was a policy
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stating that only children didn't have to go "up to the
mountains and down to the countryside."
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They said they had two colleagues who had filed a sham
divorce, with each parent taking one of the children,
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and in this way their colleagues avoided their children
[being sent down].
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I remember at that time, my father said it wouldn't be out
of the question for us to do the same thing.
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At the time, I was very young, and hearing my parents
talking about such a huge thing as divorce made me really scared. It left a
deep impression on me.
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Another thing that left me with a strong memory is --
actually, it must have happened after the Cultural Revolution.
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When my older brother and sister were taking the
university entrance exams,
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my mom would always say, "Good thing the Cultural
Revolution is over, otherwise in a family like ours, you could never even
think about going to college."
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She loved saying this!
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When we went to university, or when other people or our
relatives' kids were going to college, or when it was time for the
university entrance exam, she said this, too.
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So I think this is an influence the conclusion of the
Cultural Revolution had on our lives. This left a deep impression.
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I also remember that before my older cousins, the Educated
Youth, went "down to the countryside,"
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they had just graduated high school, so they didn’t
really have anything to do.
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They'd just be at home playing music, studying the violin
or the accordion, and singing songs.
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Sometimes I thought, other than the worry about having to
go "up to the mountains and down to the countryside," that time was pretty
happy [for them].
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I was still small back then, and I followed them around to
play, not understanding what "up to the mountains and down to the
countryside" was.
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Interviewer: I have an impression of this. It’s called
having a specialized skill.
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Right. Everyone had to study an instrument -- accordion,
violin -- or dancing. This was really popular.
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Also, [people] did handicrafts, knit sweaters, did
embroidery, knit coasters, made pillowcases, etc.
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As a little kid, I thought it was all really pretty.
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At that time, they weren’t that busy, and there wasn't
much pressure; they'd just do these things, and actually felt quite
happy.
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Interviewer: When speaking of today's kids, they always
have to prepare for tests -- when do they ever have time for things like
this?
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Right. Actually, at that time, it seems like they all had
their own [hobbies], like singing,
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and the neighborhood committee would get them together,
would organize a propaganda team, things like that.
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Back then, there were no teachers teaching them; they
studied violin or erhu on their own.
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My older cousin can play the violin, and another can play
the erhu. I'm not sure when they started learning. Anyway, they had their
own happy times.
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Interviewer: At that time, I believe it was called
literature and art of the masses. It was really common.
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Right. Every neighborhood committee would organize
activities, and we kids would go to see what was happening.
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I'm not saying everyone could participate in every
activity. For example, those with bad family backgrounds couldn't
necessarily take part.
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My older female cousin sang very well, but they wouldn't
let her go join in.
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My aunt was really imposing, and asked why they didn't let
her daughter join -- she fought with them over it.
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Interviewer: Although you were born in the '70s, you still
have some memories about it.
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Right. I was small -- four or five.
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Interviewer: Now you're a scholar. Do you still pay much attention
to the topic [话题]
of the Cultural Revolution?
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Actually, I'm still really interested in this, for several
reasons.
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In graduate school [研究所] I wrote
a term paper [期末报告] concerning the
Cultural Revolution, especially the rituals,
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such as proclaiming plans for the day and giving an update
on activities in the evening.
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I'm interested in this kind of worship, personality cults, or
things within the Cultural Revolution that were similar to religion.
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I've also read quite a few books regarding the Cultural
Revolution, like Yang Xiguang's The Captive Spirits
[Records of the Cow-Demons and Snake Spirits],
etc.
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From every aspect, every level you can understand the
circumstances of the Cultural Revolution. I still have a lot of interest in
this history.
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Interviewer: Doing research into the Cultural Revolution
requires a lot of time, and is a really complicated process.
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Interviewer: Since your major is religion, you look at
these things from a particular vantage point -- it's interesting.
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Right. Since at the time, the worship of Mao, or
proclaiming plans for the day and giving an update on activities in the
evening, were rituals.
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Actually, I think we [Chinese people] had rituals rather
early on.
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For example, in traditional society, you'd get up in the
morning,
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and generally you'd go offer incense to your ancestors,
and proclaim your plans for the day.
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I think there was something similar [in the Cultural
Revolution].
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[Rituals] were not that difficult for people to accept,
since these things weren’t totally new.
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Offering him [Mao] this worship, and doing things to treat
him like a god – these rituals.
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Interviewer: Hmm. This research is really interesting.
Thank you for sharing your memories with us.
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Interviewer: Although you were young back then, and didn't
personally participate...
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Interviewer: ...you saw your family experience some
things, like going "up to the mountains and down to the countryside."
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Right. "Up to the mountains and down to the countryside”
-- my parents really worried about this, thinking it might be my
future.
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So though I was small, I may have felt unsettled, because
my parents were so nervous.
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My parents and relatives may have had an influence on
me.
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Although I was small, I still have some impression of
this.
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Interviewer: Excellent. [You speak] so naturally, and have
such pure memories. Thank you for accepting our interview.
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I'm happy to have shared these memories!
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