Interview with Wang Laiguo

Wang Laiguo (b. 1938) is a resident of Wutai Village, Shaanxi Province. In this interview, Wang recalls his lifelong hardship and talked about the situation during the Great Famine and the Cultural Revolution. Wang was adopted by a relative when he was 11 and worked for that family for 8 years. In 1959, Wang went to work as a worker in Ningxia for two years. At that time, the villagers couldn’t leave the village freely, so Wang had to lie about leaving the village to see a doctor. That year Wang made 120 Yuan. In 1961 after Wang came back to the village, he started to work as the production team leader, and later became the secretary and brigade leader. In total Wang worked as a cadre for 45 years. When he was the brigade leader, Wang sometimes had to carry his beddings, bowls and chopsticks on his back and walked for a whole day to attend meetings in Zichang County.

王来国1938年出生，是陕西省延安市子长县南沟岔镇五台村村民。在这段口述中，王老人回忆了自己辛苦的一生，并讲述了大饥荒和文革时的一些情况。王老人11岁过继给别人当儿子，为他们做了8年工。59年王老人去宁夏当了两年工人，当时村民不能随便出走，王老人谎称出去看病才得以去宁夏，一年挣了120元。61年王老人回村后开始当生产队长，之后还当了书记和大队长，一共做了45年。当大队长时，王老人经常需要背着铺盖碗筷步行一天去子长县开会。

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。