Interview with Chen Guilian

Chen Guilian (b. 1934) is a resident of Renjiagou Village, Shaanxi Province. In this interview, she recalls the life during the Great Leap Forward and the Great Famine. During the Great Famine, Chen was the director of the birgade’s Women’s Federation. At that time, women had to carry their kids on their back to the field, and then asked others to look after the kids when they were working. Except for women who had 45 days off after giving birth, villagers in general didn’t have any holiday. If someone got sick and rested at home, the production team leader would ask a doctor to investigate. If found out to be pretending to be sick, the villager’s work points would be deducted. When eating at the communal canteen, everyone only had 2 Liang of food everyday, so people had to eat tree bark, grassroots, and wild vegetables. People only had coarse cloth to wear and Chen only had a new suit of clothes for her wedding.

陈桂莲1934年出生，是陕西省商洛市商南县城关镇任家沟村石门组村民。在这段口述中，陈老人回忆了大跃进和大饥荒的生活。大跃进时，陈老人是大队的妇联主任。当时妇女出去挖地都要把孩子背着，到了地里再找人看孩子。除了妇女生孩子有45天假之外，一般村民都没有假期，要是病了在家休息，队长还要找医生检查，如果是装病，就会被罚工分。吃食堂的时候一个人一天只有2两粮食，只能吃树皮、草根、野菜等。当时大家穿的都是老布衣，陈老人结婚时也就只有一套新衣裳。

Transcripts for this interview and more may be available under the ‘Documents’ link above. 采访抄录和相关内容，请点击查看上面的’Documents’链接。