Growing Up In Thev2

Dr. Wei Li North Harris College November, 2007 [email protected]://geocities.com/rongzheng/blog.html

Secretary of State Rice’s Remarks    “In a world where challenges transcend borders,

education is essential for making the world more peaceful and more prosperous. American students can better understand global issues by learning other languages and experiencing other cultures first-hand. Moreover, our country has no more valuable asset internationally than the friendship of the millions of young people, citizens, and leaders around the world who understand the United States because they have studied here.  “Americans across our country and people around the world are touched by international education in positive ways, and we should all be proud to celebrate International Education Week. Wherever you are, I encourage you to join me in recognizing international education as an important investment in our common future.”

What was it like growing up during the

“Cultural Revolution” as a teenager? What is the “Cultural Revolution”? What is the “Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside” campaign? Where are the survivors? What lessons did I learn? Q&A

Try to visualize:  You were a 16-year-old middle school student.  You were told that  Schools would be closed indefinitely.  Your teachers and principal were all bad people.  To prove you were patriotic and revolutionary, you should

beat up your teachers and principals.  There would be no job for you, so you must leave the city and settle down in the countryside and live there for the rest of your life.  Beautiful is ugly, ugly is beautiful, good is bad, bad is good, knowledgeable is bad, ignorant is good …  ………. How would you feel?

 “posijiu”: destroying Four Olds-- old ideas, old

culture, old customs, and old habits--in order to bring the areas of education, art and literature in line with Communist ideology.

 “zaoqingshi, wanhuibao” a ritual everyone was

supposed every day--asking for instructions in the morning and reporting back in the evening

 “Hongwulei: “Five Red (good) Categories” -

workers, soldiers, peasants, revolutionary martyrs, and Communist Party officials

 “Heiwulei”: “Five Black Categories” referred to the

following five political identities: landlords, richfarmers, anti-revolutionists, bad-influencers, and right-wingers

 “wudou”: armed fighting among rival factions that

claimed to be most loyal to Mao and to the Party  “Shangshanxiaxiang”: “Up to the Mountains and

Down to the Countryside”—a campaign in which 16 million high school students were sent to the people’s communes or production and construction corps to be “reeducated”  "niuguisheshen" ("ox ghosts and snake demons")

a term used to refer to the target people during the CR. The jails to confine them was called “ox shacks.”

Sounds and Images

 http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7357886397

 http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8070711688  http://www.morningsun.org/smash/image/struggle.swf

My most scary memories … if I have to name only three … Public humiliation meetings against our

principle, Party secretary, and the best teachers The scared and yet sullen look on my father’s face The Red Guards in my school and in our neighborhood, their green Army uniforms, and the belts in their hands, especially Xinhua …

 Economic: Shelves were empty in stores; almost everything

was rationed, including toilet paper; industrial production dropped by 12% from 1966 to 1968 (“Rather have the socialist weeds than the capitalist crops.”)

 Social: Anarchy prevailed; China became a lawless society

(“Revolution is not a crime; rebellion is justified.”)

 Educational: All schools were shut down—I graduated from

middle school in 1966 and went to college in March, 1978 (model: “blank-paper hero”)

 Cultural and intellectual: many historical sites were

destroyed; institutes of higher learning were shut down; revolutionary phrases were imprinted in people’s heads so that individuals lost the ability to think for themselves

 Family and moral: Friends and family members were divided

and fought each other (I broke my brother’s fish tank!); people can’t trust each other

 Loss of lives: Many revolutionary elders, authors, artists, and

religious figures were purged and killed or committed suicide; millions of people were persecuted; 300-500 thousand people were killed in armed fighting between rival factions .

 “A revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or

painting a picture, or doing embroidery; it cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gentle, so temperate, kind, courteous, restrained and magnanimous. A revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence by which one class overthrows another.” -- Mao Zedong

http://geocities.com/rongzheng/blog.html http://geocities.com/rongzheng/blog.html?pg=2&cn

It is absolutely necessary for educated young people to go to the countryside to be re-educated by the poor and lower-middle peasants. Cadres and other city people should be persuaded to send their sons and daughters who have finished junior or senior middle school, college, or university to the countryside. Let us mobilize. Comrades throughout the countryside should welcome them.

An excerpt from my blog: My Zhiqing Stories. http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-nhm65wYjdKgyI9iKzb6HAg8-?cq=1&p=32

Blog excerpt http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-nhm65wYjdKgyI9iKzb6HAg8-?cq=1&l=6&u=10&mx=11&lmt=5

http://www.geocities.com/hzqa/

 Appreciate what we have, especially food.  Accept reality and make the best of it.  Don’t allow yourself to become a permanent

victim of anything—move on.  Don’t let politicians or any others motivated by a hidden agenda make you feel you have to prove who you are or who you are not. Think for yourself.  No matter how big an issue appears to you at the moment, it will eventually become only a small part of your whole life. Learn to detach from negative emotions and move on.  Violence is the worst thing in the world, and there should be no excuse for it!

o The NHMCCD Faculty International

Exploration Grant o Many colleagues, friends, and family who were infested and gave me moral support to my writing o Especially Dr. Joyce Boatright, who has become my mentor and “parent” of my blog o The NHC Faculty and Staff Center for editing and beautifying my PowerPoint slides