|
|
|
An Activist Studying Chairman Mao's Works |
| Written by Peter | |
| Sunday, 11 May 2008 | |
|
Share it:      An Activist Studying Mao’s Works From about 1963, a movement of Studying Chairman Mao’s Works began. During the Cultural Revolution, the movement was the most important thing in everybody’s everyday life. The Vice-chairman Lin Biao said: “We should read Chairman Mao’s Works, listen to Chairman Mao and do according to Chairman Mao’s instruction.” Chairman Mao’s Works consists five volumes. If anybody who had the five volumes, he would be thought a person who possessed greatest spiritual wealth. Then, the five volumes were important trousseau for a bride. Everybody should recite the ‘Most Common Three Articles’ – Serve the People, In Memory Doctor Bethune, and How Yugong Moved the Mountain. From the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, a pocket book of Chairman Mao’s Quotations was popular, which was called ‘the Red Treasured Book’. Everybody should have one in hand and recited the sentences which were elected from articles in Mao’s Works. Many people could recite all the quotations in the book. Even people tested each other. For example, A asked B: “What is the first quotation on page 13?” Soon, B recited the quotation. B asked A: “What is the third quotation on page 46?” A answered: “No, there are only two quotations on page 46.” People should not only recite the sentences but should implement on the actions. Certainly, this was the calling of the upper authority. However, Mao’s quotations were implemented in the daily talk of everybody. As a result, they expressed their own ideas with Mao’s quotations. For example, if one wanted to eat, he would say: “Chairman Mao says: ‘What is the most important thing in the world is eating’.” Even, in the army and some areas, a pamphlet Answering the Daily Questions from Mao’s Quotations was published. It guided people what you should do following Chairman Mao’s instructions, when you met trouble. For example: if you meet difficulties, the answer would be “Making up one’s mind to overcome all the difficulties, to win victory”. Many activists studying Chairman Mao’s Works emerged prominently. In fact, it not depended on the extent whether one could recite Mao’s quotations fluently, but his or her actions. Actually, it did not depend on one’s actions, but the predilection of the leader. If a leader in the village took a fancy to somebody, then he would choose him or her to be an activist of studying Chairman Mao’s Works in the village and recommended the man or woman to be the activist of studying Chairman Mao’s Works in commune level. The leaders in the commune could recommend some people to the county level, and then level by level, until the activist in national level. An activist in the village level could only get a set of Chairman Mao’s Works and a badge of Mao’s, although sometimes he or she could get a chance to attend a meeting held in the commune. However, if a person was an activist at the county level, he or she could take part in many activities such as attending meetings, giving presentations on how to study Chairman Mao’s Works and exchange experiences about studying Chairman Mao’s Works. Certainly, the activist could get benefits from it, for example, he or she could be given a complete or a very high number of workpoints (Workpoint was a salary system in the countryside that time. Usually, a robust man could get ten workpoints per day, while a robust woman could get 8 workpoints per day. In the end of a year, their workpoints were calculated. The revenue of a production team would be divided by the total workpoints in the year. And the result would be the value of the workpoint. During 60 to 70’s last century, in the outer suburban districts of Beijing, the value of ten workpoint was about 20 to 60 cents RMB, which meant that a robust man can earn 20 to 60 cents a day. ), got extra money for domestic expenses and also political honor, even be received by the leaders in various levels. Ma Wenli was an activist studying Chairman Mao’s Works at the county level. Her husband was an ordinary but honest man, cowardly and timid. On the other hand, Ma Wenli was a beautiful, daring, active woman with a somewhat wild nature. She was about thirty at that time. Before the Cultural Revolution, she was considered to be a woman who knew her place, except for being said to ‘have dubious relationships with some men.’ However, she became an activist studying Chairman Mao’s Works at the county level overnight. Opinion in the commune varied as to the reason for this. Some people said that one of her relatives was in the county government; others said that one of the leader who took a fancy to her, but in fact she really was an activist studying Chairman Mao’s Works. Once I got a chance to attend her presentation on her experiences of studying Chairman Mao’s Works. It was a fine morning in summer. There were nearly two thousand people attending the meeting. She sat calmly and unhurriedly on the stage with the leading cadres of the commune. At the beginning, the chairman announced the meeting open. After doing the ‘three things’ and singing the revolutionary songs, Ma Wenli went to the front of the stage. She was a tall young woman with fine features. The morning sunlight was shining on her face. She stood on the stage with her checks suffused with blushes. Obviously, she was different from ordinary countrywomen. She drew her hair back with her hands and took out a small red book (the pocket book of Chairman Mao’s Quotations) and then held it up with her right hand, shouting: “First, let’s wish our greatr leader, great commander, great teacher and great helmsman, the reddest sun in our hearts, Chairman Mao, long ling life! We wish our vice-commander, Vice-chairman Lin eternal health …” “Every leaser, and comrades-in-arms of the proletarian revolution. My name is Ma Wenge (She had changed her name from Ma Wenli to Ma Wenge. Wenli means beautiful and gentle, while Wenge means Cultural Revolution). I am an ordinary peasant woman. If I have had any little success, it’s Chairman Mao’s Works that gave me power and guided me.” Then she told how she had studied Chairman Mao’s Works and so got power and found her revolutionary way from it; how she made revolution in her village, how she struggled against the class enemies, how she helped others – as she were a perfect heroine. She spoke so smoothly and vividly that she could hardly connect her speech with her educational and cultural level. As I was listening to her speech, I thought a lot. First, I thought that, although I was a well-educated man, if I was pushed to the stage, I could not speak as well as she did. Furthermore, the arrangement and logical reasoning of her speech were of a rather high level. Could it be that the times produce their heroes and heroines? Gradually, she let the cat out of the bag. Once, when she gave a presentation, after she had been received by Chairman Mao (in fact, it was just Mao walked past through the crowd and she was one in it.) She said: “Chairman Mao is very tall. When we saw him we kept on shouting and shouting: ‘Long live Chairman Mao! Long live Chairman Mao!’ We shouted so much that we got hoarse voices. His hands are like steamed bun with meat stuffing. And Comrade Jiang Qing is like a young lady.” When heard that, the audience were surprised because no-one dared use such words to describe Chairman Mao and his wife at that time. So some people could not refrain from laughing. She did not know why the audience was laughing but she proved herself a clever woman by continuing to shout: “Long live Chairman Mao!” Another time she said: “Because I was busy making revolution, I had no time to take care of our pigs. One day one of them died. My husband cried about in. he was not a man. I persuaded him that uncountable revolutionary martyrs had died for the revolutionary cause. Compared with them, a pig is nothing. “Because I make revolution, the class enemies spread rumor to injure my reputation. They say that I am a loose woman. I said to my husband: ‘If I am a loose woman, you would be a cuckold. Tell me, are you a cuckold or not?’ He answered that he was not a cuckold. ‘Ok, you are not a cuckold and I am not a loose woman.’ ” All the audience was surprised at her logic. However, she raised her voice and said: “Class enemies, if you are brave enough, why don’t you call me a loose woman on the spot?” If a woman is shameless, what can you do to her? The wind of the activists studying Chairman Mao’s Works blew out, one year later. By chance, I met an acquaintance who was a cadre who had settled down. Occasionally we talked about Ma Wenli. He said: “At that time, I was working in the propaganda department of the County Revolutionary Committee. I was given the task of helping Ma Wenli to sum up her materials. First the cadres in the commune told me her ‘outstanding achievement’ and then I compiled the draft. As she was the activist studying Chairman Mao’s Works at the county level, the draft had to be submitted to the county Revolutionary Committee for examination. When it passed the examination, the activist would learn the draft by heart. Because Ma Wenli only knew a few characters, I could only teach her sentence by sentence. She, however, always forgot the words because she didn’t understand them at all. Later, she talked nonsense sometimes. When the cadres heard what she said, they could only smile a wry smile.” “What about her behavior?” I asked. “At the beginning, I knew that she as a rude and unreasonable woman. Later I heard that she was a shrew and loose woman. She often beat her husband’s parents and called them bad names. She treated her husband as her slave.” I think she was a malignant tumor that could only grow well in the ground of the Cultural Revolution.
Copyright 2008 Peter |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
via Email
