Interview with Jia Baozhou

Jia Baozhou (b. 1942) is a resident of Jiaqiao Village Group 4, Zhangcun Town, Dengzhou City, Henan Province. During the Famine, Jia’s village was doing better than other ones—they had some vegetables and a few people died of hunger. Usually old people died because they had no offspring to dig up vegetables for them. During the Great Leap Forward, 4 or 5 people would pretentiously carry something with only one scoop of shit on it. Jia was a principal and in order to cater to his superior, he made up a lot of bragging slogans. When eating at communal canteens, one family only got one ladle of rice. Adults drank some thin porridge and children got something thicker. Since coffins were all burnt as firewood, bodies were left in the air. Young people who were still alive got edema.

贾保周（1942年生）是河南省邓州市张村镇贾桥村四组村民。饥荒的时候，本地比别的地方情况好些，有些菜吃，但也有人饿死，一般都是没有孩子给挖菜的老人。大跃进的时候，四五个人一起抬一个大梨狗， 里头就一锨粪，搞形式主义。贾老人当时是校长，为了取悦上级，编了很多吹牛的口号。吃食堂，一家人只有一瓢饭，大人喝稀得，孩子吃稠一点的。由于棺材都用于烧柴做饭，死人不下葬。活着的年轻人也都得了浮肿病。

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。