Interview with Ni Meilan

Ni Meilan (b. 1942) lives in Gaojia Village, Fumin County, Kunmin City, Yunnan Province. In this interview, Ni talks about her experiences from 1958 to 1961 (during the Great Famine). She joined the Great Leap Forward and Great Collaboration at 16 years old. Without enough cattle for plowing, people did it themselves, and someone died because of that. Once Ni got caught stealing food; not only were her work points deducted, she was forbidden to eat for three days. In May 1959, her parents were poisoned to death because they were too old to work.

倪美兰1942年出生，1959年嫁到了云南省昆明市富民县款庄乡蒣谷高家村。在这段口述中，倪老人讲述了她从1958年到1961年（大饥荒）的经历。她16岁参加大跃进，去搞大协作。当时犁地牛不够，让人去，有人活活拉犁拉死了。有一次她偷吃东西被发现，不仅工分被扣，还被罚三天不许吃饭。1959年5月，她的父母因为不是劳动力被人毒死了。

Transcripts for this interview and more may be available under the ‘Documents’ link above.