Interview with Lian Shinian

Lian Shinian (b. 1927) is a resident of Mafen Village, Guangdong Province. In this interview, Lian talks about the situation during the Great Leap Forward and the Great Famine. One of the most popular slogans at that time was “plant less, produce more, harvest plenty”. In the end, the grain production was very low, which led to the famine. When the communal canteen was first established, people had three meals a day and could eat as much as they wanted. However, within a month, they ran out of grain. Everyone then could only eat congee made with 2 or 3 Jin of rice. Lots of villagers died of starvation, but no one dared to publicly talk about it, worrying that they might be labeled as counter-revolutionary.

练石年1927年出生，是广东省惠州市横沥镇马忿村村民。在这段口述中，练老人讲述了大跃进和大饥荒时的情况。当时的口号之一是“少种多产高收”，结果导致粮食产量低下，造成饥荒。刚成立大食堂时，一天三餐放开吃，不到一个月粮食就不够了，于是一个生产队所有人只能喝由两三斤米熬成的粥。不少村民饿死，但大家都不敢公开表态，怕被扣上反革命的帽子。

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。