Interview with Ye Shengji

Ye Shengji (b.1927) is a resident of Zhaixia Village, Pengzhai Town, Heping County, Heyuan City, Guangdong Province. He started to sell vats as a teenager and worked in a production team. Ye recollects that in the days of communization, people ate in a big hall, and many foods were wasted. Running out of food, the team asked people to find food on their own. Ye walked to Qingzhou to sell vats and started to exchange vats for a sleeping bed or potato slices. Once, Qingzhou’s soldiers got him and confiscated his food, because selling vats is not approved. Ye still sold vats after he turned 85 years old as a habit, though he couldn’t sell many. His main income is his offspring’s red packets of money at festivals.

叶升基（1927年生）是广东省河源市和平县彭寨镇寨下村村民。他十多岁开始在县城的各个地方卖缸，也在生产队工作过。叶老人回忆当年，公社化吃大食堂，有很多粮食被浪费掉了，后来没了食物，大队就叫大家自己出去找吃的。于是，老人走路去青州卖缸，后来开始用缸换床睡、换番薯片吃，有一次换番薯片被青州民兵发现 ，声称卖缸没有经过公社的批准， 没收了食物。叶老人85岁了仍以卖缸为生，尽管赚不到钱，却成为了一种习惯。老人的经济来源主要逢年过节孙子女和外孙子女给的红包钱。

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。