Interview with Li Chunyun

Li Chunyun (b.1928) is a resident of Wanbaochang Village, Tongchang Town, Yimen County, Yunnan Province. He said that during those famine years, the government control the sale of grain, most were taken as tax grain, no sale at the local market at all. People had to eat all sort of wild vegetables because there was not enough food, but no one died of starvation. The reson he said was to pay back the Soviet Union. The peasants had to work on state projects and he was among those who were sent to build reservior. His wife has to work for the backyard furnace with their baby on her back. He also mentioned that he was given some books taken from a landlord family during the land reform and he used them for starting fires.

李春云1928年生。他回忆到“三年饥荒”时粮食收割后被公家控制，被拉走交了公粮，集市上没有粮食的买卖。人们因饥饿吃各种野菜。但村里没有人饿死。饥荒的原因是国家要还苏联的债。村里的劳动力被调到外面“支援建设”，修水库，他的老婆背着娃娃去大战钢铁，连夜干。他还提到土改时分到地主的一些古书，拿去烧火了。

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。