Interview with Wu Daiwang

Wu Daiwang (b. 1940) is a resident of Liutong Village, Guangdong Province. In this interview, Wu recalls the life during the Great Famine. Life became difficult since 1958. In addition to the scarcity of food and materials, the workload at the production was also very heavy. People usually had to work till midnight. In order to make extra money, Wu went out to work as a plasterer until he was over 40 years old. Many villagers went to work in other places. They handed in part of their income to the production team and kept the rest. Back then, although some people gave birth to kids, it was in general almost impossible to raise them up. Usually deemed very prestige, doctors, when called in, had to come to the village in sedan chairs.

吴代旺1940年出生，是广东省高州市宝光街道办荷木坡管理区留垌村村民。在这段口述中，吴老人讲述了大饥荒时期的生活。1958年开始生活变得困难，不仅缺衣少食，生产队的工作也特别辛苦，经常要干活干到三更半夜。为了多赚钱，吴老人出去做水泥工，一直做到四十多岁。村里不少人都出去干活，赚回来的钱一部分给生产队，剩下的自己用。当时虽然有人生小孩，但很难养大。那时候医生很高级，如果要请医生还得抬轿请来。

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。