WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.920 --> 00:00:08.470 align:center line:-1Interviewer: How old were you when the Cultural Revolution started in 1966? 2 00:00:08.480 --> 00:00:12.310 align:center line:-1 I was 32. 3 00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:14.560 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: Where were you at that time? 4 00:00:14.570 --> 00:00:17.620 align:center line:-1 I was in Xining city, Qinghai [Province]. 5 00:00:17.630 --> 00:00:22.900 align:center line:-1 I worked at Qinghai Medical College Affiliated Hospital, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 6 00:00:22.910 --> 00:00:28.480 align:center line:-1 Interviewer: Do you have any impressions of the Cultural Revolution? 7 00:00:28.490 --> 00:00:42.580 align:center line:-1 Yes. During the Cultural Revolution, in 1968, I attended to a mother who had just delivered her fourth child. 8 00:00:42.590 --> 00:00:46.230 align:center line:-1 The child had already been born, but after delivery, the woman was losing a lot of blood. 9 00:00:46.240 --> 00:00:47.680 align:center line:-1 So, I went to call on her. 10 00:00:47.690 --> 00:00:54.740 align:center line:-1 When I was going there, I realized the transportation [conditions] were awful. 11 00:00:54.750 --> 00:01:02.710 align:center line:-1 The road was uneven and riddled with potholes; cars would bounce around like crazy. 12 00:01:02.720 --> 00:01:09.820 align:center line:-1 I was afraid it would be unsafe to take the woman back to the hospital over these kinds of roads. 13 00:01:09.830 --> 00:01:18.670 align:center line:-1 This was my greatest mistake, and all the impact I received from the Cultural Revolution later on stemmed from this decision. 14 00:01:18.680 --> 00:01:23.900 align:center line:-1 It was said that I was an executioner who had brought harm to the poor and lower-middle peasants. 15 00:01:23.910 --> 00:01:29.320 align:center line:-1 I was given an armband [to wear as a punishment]. 16 00:01:29.330 --> 00:01:36.680 align:center line:-1 This incident happened during the Cultural Revolution, so I found myself caught up in the heart of things. 17 00:01:36.690 --> 00:01:47.850 align:center line:-1 I was a doctor, so I should be responsible for the life of the people, but at that moment I'd made a mistake. 18 00:01:47.860 --> 00:01:52.650 align:center line:-1 Later, that woman was taken to the hospital by her family. 19 00:01:52.660 --> 00:01:57.720 align:center line:-1 By the time she got there, there was already no chance of saving her. 20 00:01:57.730 --> 00:02:02.360 align:center line:-1 That's when I made my mistake. 21 00:02:02.370 --> 00:02:10.310 align:center line:-1 Later, the leadership handled things by reducing my wages by two levels. 22 00:02:10.320 --> 00:02:20.360 align:center line:-1 At that time, the wages were already quite low, and we never got a raise; [having my wages reduced] was a deep blow to me. 23 00:02:20.370 --> 00:02:26.630 align:center line:-1 I just had to tolerate it. What could I do? What happened, happened. 24 00:02:26.640 --> 00:02:37.830 align:center line:-1 That woman was brought into the hospital, but it was already too late. In the end, she died. 25 00:02:37.840 --> 00:02:44.100 align:center line:-1 I constantly felt heartsick over what had happened. 26 00:02:44.110 --> 00:02:53.700 align:center line:-1 This was one of my most bitter experiences. 27 00:02:53.710 --> 00:03:09.380 align:center line:-1 More than six months after I was demoted, the higher-ups did some research, and found a local doctor to look into things. 28 00:03:09.390 --> 00:03:22.140 align:center line:-1 [They realized] the road really was full of potholes; it was in the process of being fixed, and any car would've found it difficult to travel across. 29 00:03:22.150 --> 00:03:34.920 align:center line:-1 They rehabilitated [my case], and reinstated my wages. 30 00:03:34.930 --> 00:03:44.570 align:center line:-1 Originally, after I was demoted, I was made to clean toilets and bathrooms. 31 00:03:44.580 --> 00:03:50.110 align:center line:-1 My medical worked was put on hold for a time. 32 00:03:50.120 --> 00:03:57.010 align:center line:-1 In the end, my wages were reinstated and I didn't have to do janitorial work anymore. 33 00:03:57.020 --> 00:04:05.040 align:center line:-1 I've been working as a doctor ever since, up until today. 34 00:04:05.050 --> 00:04:13.460 align:center line:-1 Later my reputation was completely reinstated. 35 00:04:13.470 --> 00:04:18.000 align:center line:-1 I've always been heartbroken over what happened. 36 00:04:18.010 --> 00:04:24.960 align:center line:-1 I went to the pasturelands two more times, to work for a traveling medical clinic. 37 00:04:24.970 --> 00:04:31.250 align:center line:-1 When I was on the pasturelands, I discovered, Qinghai’s altitude is really high; [the area] is high and cold. 38 00:04:31.260 --> 00:04:41.170 align:center line:-1 It’s the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau; for every 100 meters above sea level, the temperature falls three degrees [Celsius]. 39 00:04:41.180 --> 00:04:47.260 align:center line:-1 So under these circumstances, I spent six months in Maduo County. 40 00:04:47.270 --> 00:04:52.860 align:center line:-1 I was also in Yushu [Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture] in Qumalai County for more than three months. 41 00:04:52.870 --> 00:05:00.160 align:center line:-1 Later, I was injured when I fell off a yak I was riding. 42 00:05:00.170 --> 00:05:08.610 align:center line:-1 My head had a huge knot on it; my eyes turned black like a panda's. 43 00:05:08.620 --> 00:05:15.910 align:center line:-1 I was sent back to the hospital for treatment and rest. 44 00:05:15.920 --> 00:05:27.940 align:center line:-1 So I returned to the hospital. After that, the hospital sent me to Shanghai for a period of rest. 45 00:05:27.950 --> 00:05:35.360 align:center line:-1 I went back to my family's home to rest; everything had been reinstated [by that time]. 46 00:05:35.370 --> 00:05:43.280 align:center line:-1 Still, I feel this incident had a huge impact on me. 47 00:05:43.290 --> 00:05:50.970 align:center line:-1 It was a way the Cultural Revolution impacted me, and the impact was quite large. 48 00:05:50.980 --> 00:06:01.040 align:center line:-1 On the pasturelands, I saw that the Tibetan compatriots were extremely hospitable, honest, and sincere. 49 00:06:01.050 --> 00:06:05.800 align:center line:-1 They had a lot of respect for us Han Chinese doctors. 50 00:06:05.810 --> 00:06:11.920 align:center line:-1 One time, I went to deliver a baby. The infant was choking on the amniotic fluid. 51 00:06:11.930 --> 00:06:17.240 align:center line:-1 I put my mouth to its mouth, and sucked out the liquid. 52 00:06:17.250 --> 00:06:24.670 align:center line:-1 I never knew my heart could be as happy as it was when I heard that baby cry. 53 00:06:24.680 --> 00:06:34.330 align:center line:-1 Another time, there was a woman of about 60 years old who had uterine fibroids. 54 00:06:34.340 --> 00:06:44.570 align:center line:-1 It was a rather unusual case, since the fibroids had already grown to the outside of the vaginal opening. 55 00:06:44.580 --> 00:06:52.560 align:center line:-1 They were like child's shoes, 10 or more centimeters long, and four or five centimeters wide. 56 00:06:52.570 --> 00:06:56.460 align:center line:-1 It was that kind of tumor. 57 00:06:56.470 --> 00:06:59.130 align:center line:-1 The tent smelled horrible. 58 00:06:59.140 --> 00:07:07.000 align:center line:-1 The neighboring tents were all set up far away from her, since [the neighbors] thought there was sickness in this tent, and the smell itself was enough to kill you anyway. 59 00:07:07.010 --> 00:07:16.910 align:center line:-1 I went there, opened the window of the clinic [tent], and did surgery on her. 60 00:07:16.920 --> 00:07:20.510 align:center line:-1 To be honest, my surgery was rather conservative. 61 00:07:20.520 --> 00:07:25.340 align:center line:-1 I didn't remove the entire uterus, since I didn't have the supplies I needed. 62 00:07:25.350 --> 00:07:29.210 align:center line:-1 There wasn't enough blood, and there was no way to transfuse it. 63 00:07:29.220 --> 00:07:43.630 align:center line:-1 I tried to think of a simple method, a way to cut the tumor out, and stitch her back up, then her case would be finished. 64 00:07:43.640 --> 00:07:54.700 align:center line:-1 Everyone was thinking, this doctor must be good, since so many other doctors [had seen the patient and] couldn't do anything, because they weren't specialists in obstetrics and gynecology. 65 00:07:54.710 --> 00:08:00.940 align:center line:-1 But I was, so I took on this case. 66 00:08:00.950 --> 00:08:09.520 align:center line:-1 The entire surgery was successful, and the people really thanked me. 67 00:08:09.530 --> 00:08:14.580 align:center line:-1 Later, they asked me what I would like. I said I didn't want anything. 68 00:08:14.590 --> 00:08:25.900 align:center line:-1 Later, when they were shearing sheep, [they said], "Which sheep’s wool do you like best? We'll sell it to you for just a little money." 69 00:08:25.910 --> 00:08:30.830 align:center line:-1 I said okay; I could take the wool home to make a blanket. 70 00:08:30.840 --> 00:08:38.990 align:center line:-1 I bought about five kilograms of it, all for a very low price of about 1 yuan for half a kilo. 71 00:08:39.000 --> 00:08:49.780 align:center line:-1 At that time, it was already during the Cultural Revolution, so… 72 00:08:49.790 --> 00:08:57.060 align:center line:-1 Anyway, I paid the money, didn't steal from anyone or embezzle anything. 73 00:08:57.070 --> 00:09:03.920 align:center line:-1 Later, I found a way to take that wool back to Shanghai, and had it made into a blanket. 74 00:09:03.930 --> 00:09:08.850 align:center line:-1 We still use it at home. 75 00:09:08.860 --> 00:09:18.020 align:center line:-1 It's better than any wool blanket you'd get in a store today, better than a down [blanket]. It's real wool. 76 00:09:18.030 --> 00:09:28.030 align:center line:-1 After that, my prestige was pretty great in Qumalai County and Maduo County. 77 00:09:28.040 --> 00:09:42.360 align:center line:-1 People would say, this Dr. Gu is great; she's saved the lives of our Tibetan infants and sick Tibetans. 78 00:09:42.370 --> 00:09:46.810 align:center line:-1 They felt [the woman's] illness was really grave, but honestly speaking, it was not that serious. 79 00:09:46.820 --> 00:09:50.440 align:center line:-1 In a large hospital, this type of illness would count as minor. 80 00:09:50.450 --> 00:09:55.750 align:center line:-1 But if you wanted to do surgery on uterine tumors, you had to prepare well ahead of time. 81 00:09:55.760 --> 00:10:01.980 align:center line:-1 I didn't have an assistant, either, so I just did a conservative surgery on her. 82 00:10:01.990 --> 00:10:16.410 align:center line:-1 Later, I left the Tibetan region. Half a century has already passed. 83 00:10:16.420 --> 00:10:35.110 align:center line:-1 I left Qinghai almost 30 years ago, but these few incidents have left a really deep impression on my mind. 84 00:10:35.120 --> 00:10:44.940 align:center line:-1 I believe the Tibetan compatriots are a national minority of the motherland. 85 00:10:44.950 --> 00:10:50.410 align:center line:-1 They are so sincere and friendly. 86 00:10:50.420 --> 00:11:04.650 align:center line:-1 No matter when you go there, they will hurry to offer you milk tea to drink, kill a sheep, and make some mutton and rice stew for you to eat. 87 00:11:04.660 --> 00:11:14.980 align:center line:-1 [The meat] wasn’t tender and we weren’t used to it, but it was impossible for them to make it more tender [due to the high altitude]. 88 00:11:14.990 --> 00:11:24.320 align:center line:-1 So, we were in this kind of environment…On the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, this high-altitude location. 89 00:11:24.330 --> 00:11:39.200 align:center line:-1 Qumalai County's elevation is 4,500 meters, but at that time I was only about 30 years old, still quite young, so I didn't get hypoxia. 90 00:11:39.210 --> 00:11:44.100 align:center line:-1 Everyone worked hard to help us do our medical work properly. 91 00:11:44.110 --> 00:11:53.910 align:center line:-1 They helped us leave a good impression when we paid house calls. 92 00:11:53.920 --> 00:12:08.710 align:center line:-1 Everyone was hard-working; doctors and nurses; external and internal surgeons; pediatricians; obstetricians and gynecologists; anesthesiologists – we were well-equipped. 93 00:12:08.720 --> 00:12:18.830 align:center line:-1 We overcame the influence of the climate of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. 94 00:12:18.840 --> 00:12:28.340 align:center line:-1 We also ate highland barley noodles, stir-fried, and drank their milk tea. We made yogurt ourselves. 95 00:12:28.350 --> 00:12:35.970 align:center line:-1 Everyone put forth an effort in our lifestyle and our work. 96 00:12:35.980 --> 00:12:42.613 align:center line:-1 So in this way, we left a good impression on our Tibetan compatriots.
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