Interview with Nan Qingyao

Nan Qingyao (b. 1939) is a resident of Xiangyangyiminxin Village, Shaanxi Province. In this interview, Nan talks about the life during the Great Famine and the Cultural Revolution. During the Great Leap Forward in 1958, because of the heavy workload, lots of villagers didn’t have time to take care of their children, so they tied their children onto the bed with ropes, disregarding their crying and screaming. When the famine was at its worst in 1961 and 1962, the grain price was too high compared to the salaries of some cadres. Therefore, they had to quit and went back home to farm so as to make a living. After the Cultural Revolution started, there were lots of struggles by force. Lots of people were shot to death during the conflicts between different sects. From 1967 to 1969, all men of the village were sent to build Zhongshanchuan Reservoir while the women were left in the village to farm. Everyday after work, people were gathered to study Quotes from Chairman Mao. According to Nan, life at that time was even worse than that in 1958.

南清耀1939年出生，是陕西省延安市子长县向阳移民新村村民。在这段口述中，南老人回忆了大饥荒和文革时期的生活。58年大跃进时劳动繁重，许多村民无暇照顾孩子，就用绳子把孩子栓在床上，不管孩子的哭闹。61年、62年饥荒最严重时，粮价非常高，有些干部工资不够，生活难以维持，因此辞职回家种地。文革开始后经常出现武斗，不同派系间甚至互相开枪打死过不少人。67年到69年间，村里的男性都被派去修中山川水库，只剩女性留在村里劳动。所有人每天干完活还要集中开会，学习《毛主席语录》，生活甚至不如58年。

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。