Interview with Jin Huilan

Jin Huilan (b. 1936) is a resident of Shaziying Village, Yang Town, Shunyi District, Beijing. In this interview, Jin recalled the life from Civil War to the Great Famine. During the Sino-Japanese War, most men in the village did not dare to sleep at home, worrying they would be dragged to join the army. The Communist party forced the students to go to school, but at the same time they had to hide from the Japanese. During the collectivization, whoever did not join the People's Commune would be criticized and punished. When the Miyun Reservoir was being built during the Great Famine, all the men (except for the physically challenged) went to build the reservoir, while all the women had to build the roads, including those who were pregnant or had little kids to take care of. Due to the lack of food provided by the canteen of their production team, Jin ate all kinds of tree barks. Many people got sick, developed big bellies and eventually died.

金慧兰1936年出生，是北京市顺义区杨镇沙子营村村民。在这段口述中，金老人回忆了从解放前到大饥荒时期的生活。抗日战争时期村里的男的怕被抓去当兵,不敢回家睡觉。学生们一边被共产党逼着去上学，一边得躲着怕被日本人发现。合作化时期虽说自由入社，但不入社就会被批斗。大饥荒时适逢北京修密云水库，村里男的除了瘸子拐子都要去修水库，女的就算怀孕或者带着孩子也得去修路。生产队食堂供应的粮食不够，金老人吃过各种树皮，好多人都得了大肚子病死了。

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。