Exiled pilgrims
Subtitle: memoirs of pre-Cultural Revolution zhiqing
By: edited by Peng Deng
Publisher: Brill
Published: 2015
Place of publication: Leiden
Language: eng
ISBN-13: 9789004292031; 9789004292277; 9789004292086
Subjects: Politics and government; Exiles; Discrimination; Pilgrims and pilgrimages; Problem youth; Teenagers; Urban-rural migration; Rural conditions; Social Marginality; Biography; History
Description: "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. 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"--Provided by publisher.
Table of contents: title: Foreword / Michel Bonnin; title: Introduction / Peng Deng; title: Part 1. The call of mountains; title: Youth training school in Chengdu / Tang Longqian; title: In remembrance of those long-gone years / Han Xiu; title: The road to Xinjiang / Dong Danan; title: Between Chongqing and Yunnan / He Ying; title: Boarding the Westbound 413 / Jin Xiping; title: Friends in Southern Hunan / Zhang Jianfu; title: Tales of Camp Harmony / Wu Baichun; title: Part 2. An illusive utopia; title: "Higher intellectuals" on our farm / Song Xiaotao; title: Behind the clouds / Ren Zongjing; title: Grain "looters" / Jiang Xuchu; title: Snow leopard / Pang Tongmin; title: We were once all "hukou soldiers" / Li Zhonggong; title: Unlucky emigre / Shi Ming; title: My days in Well Pass / Ding Yumin; title: Sixth aunt / Wang Yuanling; title: Lost love in the Daba Mountains / Zhang Yiting; title: Part 3. On the altar of the Revolution; title: Songs of October / Liu Changyi; title: Withered youth / Li Zhongmei; title: The choice between life and death / Ma Wenhua; title: Massacre in Nanjiang / Yang Xingquan; title: Born to be criminal / Zhang Mengjie; title: In those wintry days / Zhou Bangxian; title: The fortieth anniversary of Wang Baiming's death / Zheng Wendou; title: Part 4. The long journey home; title: My twelve years as a zhiqing / Wang Shiyan; title: Teacher Qin / Wang Lingfu; title: Years in Dragon Spring / Wan Xiaonong; title: Self-taught doctor from the mountains / Li Wei; title: My dream of college / Jiang Shuling; title: Troublesome personal data form / Xia Xianzheng; title: The ordeal of job hunting / Zhao Minghe; title: Disability certification / Li Suhua; title: The long way home / Li Zisen; title: My father / Deng Yuanshu; title: Appendix 1: Directive concerning the political evaluation of high school and middle school students in Chongqing Municipality in 1964; title: Appendix 2: Political evaluation criteria for admissions by non-special fields of study in colleges; title: Appendix 3: Political evaluation criteria for admissions by secondary schools; title: Glossary.