Interview with Ma Guangyun

Ma Guangyun(b.1939) is a resident of Diaoyutai Village, Hubei Province. He recalls that a lot of people died of starvation in 1959. People even ate all the tree leaves and barks. They also ate cotton leaves and soy bean leaves, almost anything they could find. He went to work at railroad construction but was still hungry all the time. He was told that the shortage of food was because the country needed to pay back debts owed to the Soviet Union. His village suffered the most because the village party secretary refused help. They also went to build Zijinshan reservoir. They had to work on empty stomach. Many people starved to death.

马光云（1939年生）是湖北省随州市随县殷店镇钓鱼台村村民。他记得1959年饿死了很多人, 人们把树叶和树皮都吃光了。还吃棉花叶子、黄豆叶子, 找到什么吃什么。他去修铁路, 也吃不饱。他听说粮食短缺是因为要还苏联的债。 他的村子饿死的人多是因为他们的书记拒绝了上面的供应。他们去修紫金山水库时, 肚子饿仍然要干活, 饿死了很多人。

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。