Exiled pilgrims : : memoirs of pre-cultural revolution zhiqing / / translated and edited by Peng Deng.

• TeilnehmendeR: Deng, Peng,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden, Netherlands ;, Boston, [Massachusetts] : : Brill,, 2015.; ©2015
• Year of Publication: 2015
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (457 p.)
• Notes: Includes index.

Exiled Pilgrims contains thirty-two personal accounts by people who, as teenagers, went to rural China in 1964 and 1965. Barred from high school or college by political discrimination, the authors left the cities for the countryside in hopes of redeeming their “original sin” while making a difference in rural China with their hard work, only to find out that their idealism was futile in a mundane world and absurd time. Thus their pilgrimage to an illusory utopia turned into a painful search for truth and a tough struggle to liberate themselves against enormous odds. The book is the first and only collection of stories by members of a once marginalized and heretofore largely unheard-of group in contemporary China. \'The stories of these young 'exiled pilgrims' bring the reader uplifting examples of the resilience of the human spirit. Their stories are heart-breaking, but the voice is never cynical, and hope is a constant. Exiled Pilgrims is a treasure.\' Carole Head, High Point University \'The stories compiled here detail the daily life of a strange and fascinating period, always with emotion, often with humor, showing that one can speak about serious things without being dry. Reading this book is an excellent and pleasant way to understand the real China under Mao.\' Michel Bonnin, School for Advanced Studies in Social Sciences, Paris \'These individualized accounts reflect the shining—and somewhat sad—lives of pre-Cultural Revolution zhiqing. In their stories, the authors not only record their personal experiences, but also provide insightful explanation for the origins, evolution, and impact of such phenomena as the implementation of the class line at schools and the utopian orientation among the Chinese youth in the early and mid-1960s. Together with the valuable photos and rare documents, stories in Exiled Pilgrims give us a fairly comprehensive portrayal of the collective journey of pre-Cultural Revolution zhiqing.\' Liu Xiaomeng, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing

Table of Contents

Preliminary Material -- Introduction / Deng Peng -- Youth Training School in Chengdu / Longqian Tang -- In Remembrance of Those Long-Gone Years / Xiu Han -- The Road to Xinjiang / Danan Dong -- Between Chongqing and Yunnan / Ying He -- Boarding the Westbound 413 / Xiping Jin -- Friends in Southern Hunan / Jianfu Zhang -- Tales of Camp Harmony / Baichun Wu -- Three “Higher Intellectuals” on Our Farm / Xiaotao Song -- Behind the Clouds / Zongjing Ren -- Grain “Looters” / Xuchu Jiang -- Snow Leopard / Tongmin Pang -- We Were Once All “Hukou Soldiers” / Zhonggong Li -- Unlucky Émigré / Ming Shi -- My Days in Well Pass / Yumin Ding -- Sixth Aunt / Yuanling Wang -- Lost Love in the Daba Mountains / Yiting Zhang -- Photo Section -- Songs of October / Changyi Liu -- Withered Youth / Zhongmei Li -- The Choice between Life and Death / Wenhua Ma -- Massacre in Nanjiang / Xingquan Yang -- Born to Be Criminals / Mengjie Zhang -- In Those Wintry Days / Bangxian Zhou -- The Fortieth Anniversary of Wang Baiming’s Death / Wendou Zheng -- My Twelve Years as a Zhiqing / Shiyan Wang -- Teacher Qin / Lingfu Wang -- Ten Years in Dragon Spring / Xiaonong Wan -- Self-Taught Doctor from the Mountains / Wei Li -- My Dream of College / Shuling Jiang -- Troublesome Personal Data Form / Xianzheng Xia -- The Ordeal of Job Hunting / Minghe Zhao -- Disability Certification / Suhua Li -- The Long Way Home / Zisen Li -- My Father / Yuanshu Deng -- Appendices: Education Bureau of Chongqing Municipality Document -- Glossary -- Index.