WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.280 --> 00:00:12.050 align:center line:-1Interviewer: Hello! Could you please tell me the decade you were born in? 2 00:00:12.060 --> 00:00:16.770 align:center line:-1 When I was born, it was during a difficult time. 3 00:00:16.780 --> 00:00:20.190 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: Could you tell me, was it the 1950s, the 1960s, or the 1970s? 4 00:00:20.200 --> 00:00:25.640 align:center line:-1 I was born right at the beginning of the 1960s; that is, the end of the 1950s, beginning of the 1960s. 5 00:00:25.650 --> 00:00:31.600 align:center line:-1 When I was born, the difficult era of the early 1960s had just begun. 6 00:00:31.610 --> 00:00:41.730 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: Just a second, please. During the 10 years of the Cultural Revolution, from 1966 to 1976, where did you live? 7 00:00:41.740 --> 00:00:48.940 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: Could you tell us your approximate location? You could speak a little about each place you lived, if you like. 8 00:00:48.950 --> 00:00:55.490 align:center line:-1 I was in Yunnan [Province], in the town of Banqiao in Shilin County. 9 00:00:55.500 --> 00:01:00.260 align:center line:-1 It wasn't a mountainous area, but rather a town on the plains. 10 00:01:00.270 --> 00:01:07.540 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: Could you tell me about the incidents that left the deepest impression on you during those 10 years? 11 00:01:07.550 --> 00:01:15.350 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: What would you most like to tell others concerning your impressions or your memories of those years? 12 00:01:15.360 --> 00:01:28.470 align:center line:-1 The thing I remember most from those 10 years happened when I was about eight or nine years old, so it must've started around 1968. 13 00:01:28.480 --> 00:01:36.410 align:center line:-1 A kid like me of this age was quite happy. 14 00:01:36.420 --> 00:01:43.490 align:center line:-1 When the Red Guards emerged, [kids] wore hats [in imitation of the ones the Red Guards wore]. 15 00:01:43.500 --> 00:01:46.990 align:center line:-1 In just a few months, everything was in an uproar. 16 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:55.930 align:center line:-1 We were little, so we didn't understand the Cultural Revolution; we just knew this was people making revolution. 17 00:01:55.940 --> 00:02:01.140 align:center line:-1 The first to be attacked were people of my mother and father's generation. 18 00:02:01.150 --> 00:02:11.990 align:center line:-1 My father was a demobilized serviceman; after being demobilized, he had become an accountant for the production brigade. 19 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:13.510 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: You're from an ethnic minority, aren't you? 20 00:02:13.520 --> 00:02:15.410 align:center line:-1 Right. 21 00:02:15.420 --> 00:02:16.990 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: Would you mind telling us which group? 22 00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:18.790 align:center line:-1 I'm Yi. 23 00:02:18.800 --> 00:02:19.990 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: OK, please go on. 24 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:30.630 align:center line:-1 I'm Yi. When my father was working as an accountant, my family's standard of living was above average. 25 00:02:30.640 --> 00:02:41.110 align:center line:-1 Not a few months later, when the Cultural Revolution had just started, struggle against people also started. 26 00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:44.990 align:center line:-1 I heard that at that time, two factions were formed. 27 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:50.400 align:center line:-1 I don't know [which faction] my father belonged to, but anyway, he was taken away to be struggled against. 28 00:02:50.410 --> 00:02:57.420 align:center line:-1 After a few days of being struggled against, which included being beaten, he couldn't take it anymore. 29 00:02:57.430 --> 00:03:04.190 align:center line:-1 He kept explaining how it was to my mother, but she didn't take much notice. 30 00:03:04.200 --> 00:03:08.380 align:center line:-1 After a few days, he was struggled against again, in the daytime and at night. 31 00:03:08.390 --> 00:03:15.000 align:center line:-1 There were parades, and he had to join in, walking along the streets in a dunce cap. 32 00:03:15.010 --> 00:03:21.780 align:center line:-1 It was late at night before he came home. He really couldn't stand it. 33 00:03:21.790 --> 00:03:28.100 align:center line:-1 My paternal grandmother had passed away early; none of us knew her. She died before my father was demobilized. 34 00:03:28.110 --> 00:03:40.850 align:center line:-1 With that situation, and being struggled against...my father couldn't stand it, so he hanged himself. 35 00:03:40.860 --> 00:03:54.060 align:center line:-1 The morning after he hanged himself the authorities came, and they wouldn't let us buy a coffin. 36 00:03:54.070 --> 00:04:04.990 align:center line:-1 They just took an old woven mat and [wrapped him up]. Then, they put up a scarecrow in front of our house. 37 00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:12.000 align:center line:-1 In addition, they made my mother join in a parade. They said [my father] had committed suicide to escape punishment. 38 00:04:12.010 --> 00:04:18.880 align:center line:-1 They made my mom go out to parade. They beat her as they paraded along. 39 00:04:18.890 --> 00:04:23.410 align:center line:-1 One evening, afraid that my mother [would suffer], my older sister and I went along with her. 40 00:04:23.420 --> 00:04:26.990 align:center line:-1 But those people wouldn't let us go with her. They kicked us and made us leave. 41 00:04:27.000 --> 00:04:29.990 align:center line:-1 They made our mom go alone to be struggled against. 42 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:34.790 align:center line:-1 Since we were small, they kicked us out and wouldn't let us see what was going on. 43 00:04:34.800 --> 00:04:38.820 align:center line:-1 Later on, we went home. Those few days were incredibly [difficult]. 44 00:04:38.830 --> 00:04:44.240 align:center line:-1 My mother had the desire to kill herself. 45 00:04:44.250 --> 00:04:56.030 align:center line:-1 But later, looking at all her kids -- my older sister and myself, and my little sister and little brother -- she forced herself to carry on. 46 00:04:56.040 --> 00:05:08.010 align:center line:-1 After a few days, actually it was probably over a week, [Red Guards] came to search our house to confiscate possessions. 47 00:05:08.020 --> 00:05:13.000 align:center line:-1 My father wasn't buried the day after he died. 48 00:05:13.010 --> 00:05:20.510 align:center line:-1 Three or four days passed, and my mother got in touch with a few relatives and friends. 49 00:05:20.520 --> 00:05:28.510 align:center line:-1 They finally couldn't put up with it, and they carried him away and buried him on the mountain, very simply. 50 00:05:28.520 --> 00:05:33.990 align:center line:-1 We were not allowed to buy a coffin, or anything. 51 00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:37.880 align:center line:-1 So a little over a week later, [Red Guards] came to search our house. 52 00:05:37.890 --> 00:05:44.880 align:center line:-1 They turned the place upside down, taking things away until we had almost nothing left besides a Thermos. 53 00:05:44.890 --> 00:05:55.110 align:center line:-1 My older sister couldn't go to school. At that time, I was in the second grade, but I couldn't go, either. 54 00:05:55.120 --> 00:06:05.580 align:center line:-1 My mom was taken away every day, sometimes twice a day, to be paraded around and struggled against. 55 00:06:05.590 --> 00:06:10.280 align:center line:-1 After a while, they stopped struggling against her. 56 00:06:10.290 --> 00:06:20.990 align:center line:-1 But they wouldn't let us go out and do anything. We couldn't leave town, or visit neighbors. 57 00:06:21.000 --> 00:06:24.990 align:center line:-1 We weren't allowed to have contact with friends and relatives. 58 00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:33.020 align:center line:-1 Regardless of whether they were people who lived nearby or far away, we had to break off contact with them. 59 00:06:33.030 --> 00:06:39.980 align:center line:-1 It was definitely difficult for my mother to take care of four children. 60 00:06:39.990 --> 00:06:54.230 align:center line:-1 All of our food had been confiscated. Some people gave us some beans and rice, and we were able to keep going a while. 61 00:06:54.240 --> 00:06:59.890 align:center line:-1 At that time, my sister was 13, and I was nine. 62 00:06:59.900 --> 00:07:11.030 align:center line:-1 She and I would go up the mountain to gather firewood, to help our family. 63 00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:26.450 align:center line:-1 Later on, someone said to my mother, "You ought to move on and get remarried." 64 00:07:26.460 --> 00:07:34.190 align:center line:-1 My mother said, "Their father has been gone such a short time; I can't remarry." 65 00:07:34.200 --> 00:07:36.990 align:center line:-1 What's more, the authorities wouldn't have allowed her to remarry. 66 00:07:37.000 --> 00:07:46.980 align:center line:-1 The authorities would say, "If you want to remarry, you have to go it alone, and leave the kids behind." 67 00:07:46.990 --> 00:07:52.760 align:center line:-1 [A man] also couldn't "marry into the wife's family." 68 00:07:52.770 --> 00:08:00.520 align:center line:-1 With my mother and four kids, there were five of us altogether. 69 00:08:00.530 --> 00:08:07.420 align:center line:-1 That year or two was the most difficult time. 70 00:08:07.430 --> 00:08:24.400 align:center line:-1 My mother, my older sister, and I would farm, gather firewood on the mountain, and cut grass to make rope we could sell. 71 00:08:24.410 --> 00:08:30.540 align:center line:-1 It was so difficult. We'd only eat two meals a day, and never got full. 72 00:08:30.550 --> 00:08:35.190 align:center line:-1 We struggled for two years this way. It was truly terrible. 73 00:08:35.200 --> 00:08:41.300 align:center line:-1 When my father passed away, my brother was just a little over one year old. 74 00:08:41.310 --> 00:08:48.740 align:center line:-1 My younger sister was only four. I was eight. 75 00:08:48.750 --> 00:08:51.770 align:center line:-1 [My mother] looked for [a new husband]. 76 00:08:51.780 --> 00:08:58.510 align:center line:-1 However, he wasn't allowed to "marry into the wife's family"; my mother could only go along with him. 77 00:08:58.520 --> 00:09:03.950 align:center line:-1 At first, only she could go with him. 78 00:09:03.960 --> 00:09:10.400 align:center line:-1 So, she went alone, since he wasn't allowed to "marry into the wife's family." 79 00:09:10.410 --> 00:09:19.190 align:center line:-1 Later, she was only allowed to take two kids along, leaving two others at home. 80 00:09:19.200 --> 00:09:22.990 align:center line:-1 So then, she took my younger brother and sister with her. 81 00:09:23.000 --> 00:09:35.050 align:center line:-1 The house had been divided and assigned when my father was demobilized, and our family only had one boy -- that place was patriarchal; we put boys above girls. 82 00:09:35.060 --> 00:09:44.450 align:center line:-1 So, we left the house as my little brother's registered residence. My mother took my little brother and sister along when she remarried. 83 00:09:44.460 --> 00:09:53.990 align:center line:-1 After she remarried, my sister and I stayed [in the original house]. 84 00:09:54.000 --> 00:10:04.010 align:center line:-1 Just think, my sister was only 14 or 15 at the time, and I was about 11. 85 00:10:04.020 --> 00:10:09.800 align:center line:-1 In the evening, we didn't dare go to sleep. Every few days, thieves would come. 86 00:10:09.810 --> 00:10:15.470 align:center line:-1 The Thermos that had so luckily been left behind, as well as the electric lamp, were both stolen. 87 00:10:15.480 --> 00:10:34.990 align:center line:-1 Later, some people said my sister should look for [a boyfriend], but she was too young, only 16 or 17. 88 00:10:35.000 --> 00:10:47.050 align:center line:-1 In 1972 or '73, rehabilitation of cases began. 89 00:10:47.060 --> 00:10:57.200 align:center line:-1 My mother came back, and my sister and I went with her to find [the leadership], and said that my father's death was unjust. 90 00:10:57.210 --> 00:11:04.290 align:center line:-1 [The leader] said we should wait for a resolution, but later no resolution came about. 91 00:11:04.300 --> 00:11:13.530 align:center line:-1 [The case] was passed along to different people, and finally they said we'd receive 2,000 RMB. 92 00:11:13.540 --> 00:11:24.540 align:center line:-1 They said my mother had remarried, so the nation had nothing to do [with the case]. 93 00:11:24.550 --> 00:11:36.650 align:center line:-1 At that time you could do a lot with 2,000 RMB. We lived off it for two years. 94 00:11:36.660 --> 00:11:45.670 align:center line:-1 [The leadership] said if [my mother] hadn't remarried, the nation might have looked after us a bit better, but those who remarried weren't given this consideration. 95 00:11:45.680 --> 00:11:59.230 align:center line:-1 At that time we didn't really understand, and we also didn't search out [higher authorities]. 96 00:11:59.240 --> 00:12:06.530 align:center line:-1 It showed they [admitted] a mistake. 97 00:12:06.540 --> 00:12:16.190 align:center line:-1 Otherwise, how was [the case] rehabilitated? 98 00:12:16.200 --> 00:12:21.370 align:center line:-1 My mother came to see my sister and me every week or so. 99 00:12:21.380 --> 00:12:33.070 align:center line:-1 After two years, my sister got married, and [her husband] was not allowed to "marry into the wife's family," so she left, leaving me by myself. 100 00:12:33.080 --> 00:12:41.310 align:center line:-1 The residence was still registered to my little brother. 101 00:12:41.320 --> 00:12:57.010 align:center line:-1 [My stepfather] often talked about how, "That person [my father] committed suicide to escape punishment. The Cultural Revolution really messed with you all..." 102 00:12:57.020 --> 00:13:11.670 align:center line:-1 So, he really didn't treat my mother and us well. Two out of three days, they were fighting. 103 00:13:11.680 --> 00:13:28.320 align:center line:-1 I lived one place two years, another place two years, and I had relatives in Kunming city, so I stayed with them for two years as well. 104 00:13:28.330 --> 00:13:41.990 align:center line:-1 After my father died, when my mother remarried, she was only a bit over 30. 105 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:45.290 align:center line:-1 She had another son [with her second husband]. 106 00:13:45.300 --> 00:14:02.990 align:center line:-1 After that, [my stepfather] acted even worse toward us; if he wasn't beating my little brother and sister, he was screaming at them. 107 00:14:03.000 --> 00:14:07.380 align:center line:-1 Under those circumstances, none of us four kids graduated from junior high school. 108 00:14:07.390 --> 00:14:10.980 align:center line:-1 My sister didn't even go to junior high -- there was just no way. 109 00:14:10.990 --> 00:14:21.750 align:center line:-1 She was the oldest, and when she came home she had to look after her younger sisters and brothers, or go out and farm. 110 00:14:21.760 --> 00:14:27.790 align:center line:-1 I went to junior high, but I didn't finish. My little sister did finish junior high school, though. 111 00:14:27.800 --> 00:14:33.290 align:center line:-1 My little brother wasn't able to finish, since our stepfather wouldn't let him go to school. 112 00:14:33.300 --> 00:14:46.140 align:center line:-1 [My stepfather] was always saying [our family] was no good; [we] were struggled against in the Cultural Revolution, and the kids were all bad, he said. 113 00:14:46.150 --> 00:14:54.630 align:center line:-1 This really placed a burden on our thinking. 114 00:14:54.640 --> 00:14:58.780 align:center line:-1 I came back from Kunming after two years. 115 00:14:58.790 --> 00:15:16.990 align:center line:-1 Seeing that [my mother and stepfather] were always fighting, and since I had been able to reestablish communications with relatives and friends, I then left to come to Beijing. 116 00:15:17.000 --> 00:15:27.390 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: Thank you for talking about the painful things your family experienced during the 10 years of the Cultural Revolution. 117 00:15:27.400 --> 24:00:00.000 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: Sincere thanks -- I think this information will help us a lot in our study of China's 10-year Cultural Revolution. Thank you.
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