Table Of ContentAcross the Great Divide
The Sent-Down Youth Movement in Mao’s
China, 1968–1980
Emily Honig
UniversityofCalifornia,SantaCruz
Xiaojian Zhao
UniversityofCalifornia,SantaBarbara
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Illustrations
1.1 BiddingfarewelltotheHuangpuriver page25
1.2 Mediaimageofahappydepartureofsent-downyouth
attheShanghaitrainstation 26
2.1 ShanghaiyouthYangShiguangwithvillagersinYanbian,
Jilin 41
2.2 Goingtoworkinthefields 42
3.1 ShanghaiyouthHeXinhuaanchorsatthebroadcaststation
atHuxicommuneinLe’an,Jiangxi 79
5.1 ZhuKejiawithAi’nivillagersinXishuangbanna 123
5.2 ZhuKejiaduringaninterviewwiththeauthors 124
7.1 Formersent-downyouthYangXiaohuatHeihe,
Heilongjiang,helpingvillagersorganizeaco-op 171
7.2 Reunitedwitholdfriendsinthevillage 173
7.3 AihuiSent-DownYouthMuseum 181
7.4 Sent-downyouthremembrancewallinHuma,Heilongjiang 181
vi
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Contents
ListofIllustrations pagevi
Acknowledgments vii
StylisticNote x
Introduction 1
1 FarewelltotheHuangpuRiver 18
2 NotAllQuietontheRuralFront 40
3 TheUnplannedEconomy 65
4 InappropriateIntimacies 87
5 UrbanOutpostsinRuralChina 117
6 ThingsFallApart 137
7 Epilogue 170
Bibliography 185
Glossary 203
Index 208
v
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Introduction
Ofallthepoliticalcampaignsthatreconfigureddailylifeinthefirstthree
decades of the People’s Republic of China, the sent-down youth move-
mentthatsent17millionurbanyouthtoliveinruralChinain1968–1980
isoneofthemostvividlyrememberedandhotlydebated.Mao’s1968call
forre-educationcatapultedurbanyouthintoaworldofruralpovertythey
would otherwise never have known. Memorialized in fiction, films, art
exhibits, and even an orchestral performance,1 the movement is com-
monly branded a misguided revolution, a forced relocation, and
a sacrifice of youth. The victimization of sent-down youth has been
invoked to symbolize the suffering of all Chinese people during the
Cultural Revolution (1966–1976). Whether former sent-down youth
lookbackonthateraasoneofdeprivationthathandicappedthemoras
onethathonedtheirabilitytonavigateadversity,theiryearslivinginthe
countrysideconstitutedthepivotalexperienceforagenerationthatcame
ofageduringtheCulturalRevolution.
This book differs from other accounts and studies of the sent-down
youth movement. It is the first to draw primarily on archives in remote
rural areas that hosted sent-down youth, offering a local perspective on
the movement. Aiming to understand more than the ups and downs of
this political campaign, the hardships experienced by urban youth, and
thedifficulties implementingMao’sdirectiveforurban youthtobe “re-
educated” by the “peasants,” this study centers on how the movement
was informed by and affected relations between state and society,
between the city and countryside, in the PRC. It highlights divisions as
well as connections and interdependencies created by the movement,
calling particular attention to the conflicts and collaborations between
1TheorchestralperformanceisAsktheEarthandSky:AnOratoriofortheSent-DownYouth,
performedinSanFranciscoaswellasseveralcitiesinChinain2016.Foradescriptionof
someoftheexhibitionsaboutsent-downyouth,seeXiaoweiZheng,“Images,Memories,
andLivesofSent-DownYouthinYunnan,”inJamesCook,JoshuaGoldstein,Matthew
D.Johnson,andSigridSchmalzer,eds.,VisualizingModernChina:Image,History,and
Memory,1750–Present(London:LexingtonBooks,2014),241–258.
1
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2 Introduction
urban and rural officials. Instead of chronicling a story of victims of
amonolithicstateandits powerfulcadres,weshowhow participantsin
the movement—sent-down youth, their parents, and even local govern-
mentofficials—disregarded,circumvented,andmanipulatedstatepolicy,
ultimately undermining what was ostensibly a decade-long Maoist
project.
Ourstudyofthesent-downyouthmovementhasitsoriginssomethirty
years ago when we first met at Fudan University in Shanghai. Emily
Honig was an American graduate student researching the history of
Shanghai factory workers; Xiaojian Zhao was a Chinese undergraduate
intheDepartmentofHistorywhohadrecentlyreturnedtoShanghaiafter
spendingsevenyearsasasent-downyouth.Livinginthesamedormitory
in1980,wehopedtovisittheJiangxivillagewhereZhaohadlived,aplan
thwartedbythenrestrictionsonforeigners’traveltothecountryside.In
subsequent decades, we were otherwise occupied with establishing aca-
demiccareersintheUnitedStates,HonigasahistorianofmodernChina,
Zhao as a historian of Asian America. It was not until 2010, when our
paths intersected in Shanghai again, that we resurrected the idea of
visitingthevillageinJiangxi.
The village landscape had changed dramatically in the three decades
sincesent-downyouthreturnedtothecity.Largetractsofterracedland
onthesurroundinghillsideswereleftunattended.Asmostyoungadults
hadlefttoworkintownsandcities,onlyelderlyresidentsandtheiryoung
grandchildrenremained.Interspersedwiththeoldmudhouseswerenew
two-story family dwellings featuring gated courtyards with fruit trees.
Earnings from those working in cities had eased worries of the past
about adequate food, and older villagers could now afford leisure time
during this winter slack season, sitting outside in the sun or gathered
indoorstoplaycards.ThehousewhereZhaohadlivedwithelevenother
sent-downyouthwasnowempty,onlyafadedpictureofMaoremaining
onthewallofthedustyinterior.Thebedroomswerecompletelydarkon
asunnyafternoon,theirtinywindowsboardedshuttokeepoutthecold
winterair.
Though the trip was long overdue and meeting old friends was emo-
tionally powerful for both the villagers and Zhao, it was our almost
serendipitous visit to the county archives that catalyzed this project and
prompted us, over the next several years, to seek access to a number of
other county archives in areas that had hosted large numbers of sent-
down youth from Shanghai. In addition to counties in Jiangxi, we col-
lectedrecordsofsent-downyouthofficesinthefarnortherncountiesof
Heilongjiangjustacross theBlack Dragon(Heilong)river from Siberia,
and in semi-tropical areas of Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, close to the
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Introduction 3
Laotian and Burmese borders. We also visited municipal and district
archives(includingPutuo,Jing’an,andZhabei)inShanghai.Thedocu-
mentsinthesearchives—reports,meetingminutes,workplansandpro-
posals, statistical tables, texts of conference speeches, correspondence,
records of telephone calls, grievances, accusations, confessions, and
investigative reports—made us realize just how much more complex
ahistoryofthesent-downyouthmovementremainedtobewritten.
Fromitsoutsetinthelate1960s,Westernobserverswerecaptivatedby
this seemingly bold experiment launched by a socialist state to contend
withthedualproblemsofurbanunemploymentandruralpoverty,advo-
cating the idealistic goal of closing the gap between the city and
countryside.2 For this reason, accounts of the sent-down youth move-
ment,includingscholarlystudies,begantoappearevenbeforethemove-
mentendedin1980.3Whetherproducedinthelate1970sorthe1990s
and early 2000s, these accounts almost all relied on newspaper reports,
memoirs,andinterviews(firstwithrefugeesinHongKongandlaterwith
formersent-downyouthwhoremainedinthePRC).Theseearlierscho-
lars of the sent-down youth movement lamented the impossibility of
accessinglocalarchivesandwonderedhowsuchmaterialsmightchange
theiranalyses.
This study is the first to do just that. The documents that comprise
records of the sent-down youth offices held in those archives, many
handwritten, were produced for internal use among cadres tasked with
the implementation of Mao’s directive for urban youth to receive “pea-
santre-education.”Theywerenotforpublicconsumption,butratherfor
government agencies to evaluate progress and report to their adminis-
trativesuperiors.Theauthorsofthesereportswereindividualsenmeshed
intheimplementationofthemovement,whosefuturesdependedinpart
onhowwellorpoorlytheyperformed.Yetmanyreports,evenifinfused
with a determination to chronicle local success, invariably also convey
problems,sometimesinarelativelyshortsectionattheend.Incontrast,
reportsbyteamsofurbancadres(referredtoastheweiwentuan)tendedto
focusmoreonproblems,astheirmembersweretaskedwithinvestigating
conditionsforurbanyouthonruralproductionteams.
2See,forexample,ThomasP.Bernstein,UptotheMountainsandDowntotheVillages:The
TransferofYouthfromUrbantoRuralChina(NewHaven:YaleUniversityPress,1977),
2–4.AlsoseeMartinM.Singer,EducatedYouthandtheCulturalRevolutioninChina(Ann
Arbor:UniversityofMichiganPress,1971).
3SeeBernstein;andalsoD.GordonWhite,“ThePoliticsofHsia-hsiangYouth,”China
Quarterly,59(July–September1974),491–517;andJohnGardner,“EducatedYouthand
Rural–UrbanInequalities,1958–1966,”inJohnW.Lewis,ed.,TheCityinCommunist
China(Stanford:StanfordUniversityPress,1971),268–276.
(cid:16)(cid:35)(cid:42)(cid:34)(cid:32)(cid:35)3(cid:25)7(cid:25)(cid:1)8(cid:37)(cid:35)(cid:33)(cid:1):DD(cid:36)C(cid:14)(cid:4)(cid:4)(cid:42)(cid:42)(cid:42) 53(cid:33)4(cid:37)(cid:30)(cid:25)97 (cid:35)(cid:37)9(cid:4)5(cid:35)(cid:37)7 (cid:1)2(cid:34)(cid:30)(cid:41)7(cid:37)C(cid:30)DH(cid:1)(cid:35)8(cid:1).(cid:35)(cid:34)9(cid:1)/(cid:35)(cid:34)9(cid:1)0(cid:30)4(cid:37)3(cid:37)(cid:30)7C(cid:2)(cid:1)(cid:35)(cid:34)(cid:1)(cid:6)(cid:7)(cid:1)13H(cid:1)(cid:7)(cid:5)(cid:7)(cid:5)(cid:1)3D(cid:1)(cid:6)(cid:9)(cid:14)(cid:5)(cid:5)(cid:14)(cid:10)(cid:8)(cid:2)(cid:1)C(cid:40)4(cid:31)75D(cid:1)D(cid:35)(cid:1)D:7(cid:1),3(cid:33)4(cid:37)(cid:30)(cid:25)97
,(cid:35)(cid:37)7(cid:1)D7(cid:37)(cid:33)C(cid:1)(cid:35)8(cid:1)(cid:40)C7(cid:2)(cid:1)3(cid:41)3(cid:30)(cid:32)34(cid:32)7(cid:1)3D(cid:1):DD(cid:36)C(cid:14)(cid:4)(cid:4)(cid:42)(cid:42)(cid:42) 53(cid:33)4(cid:37)(cid:30)(cid:25)97 (cid:35)(cid:37)9(cid:4)5(cid:35)(cid:37)7(cid:4)D7(cid:37)(cid:33)C (cid:1):DD(cid:36)C(cid:14)(cid:4)(cid:4)(cid:25)(cid:35)(cid:30) (cid:35)(cid:37)9(cid:4)(cid:6)(cid:5) (cid:6)(cid:5)(cid:6)(cid:11)(cid:4)(cid:13)(cid:11)(cid:12)(cid:6)(cid:6)(cid:5)(cid:12)(cid:10)(cid:13)(cid:10)(cid:11)(cid:7)(cid:12) (cid:5)(cid:5)(cid:6)
4 Introduction
Although,likeany andallhistoricaldocuments, theserecordscannot
beinterpretedasrepresentingatruthofwhattranspired,theyarethefirst
setofmaterialsthatprovideinsightintohowabroadrangeofparticipants
in the movement—cadres in county governments and sent-down youth
offices, provincial officials, municipal government leaders, and the wei-
wentuan sent by cities to provide comfort for, investigate, and manage
problems of sent-down youth—navigated the daily work of the move-
ment, expressed frustrations, and sometimes articulated ideas on how
policiesshouldbemodified.Reportsfromthecountyofficesofsent-down
youthincludeaccountsofvisitsbyurbanandruralofficialstosent-down
youth settlements, often recording conversations with the youth and
villagers that suggest the everyday interactions between the two. They
reveal the conflicts that erupted at the local level, not only the most
obviousbetweenyouthandtheirruralhosts,butbetweenofficialslocated
atdifferentadministrativelevelsandinurbanversusruralinstitutions.
Most importantly, the archival collections make audible the voices of
ruralvillagersandcadres,previouslyovershadowedbythetestimoniesof
sent-downyouththemselves.Whileadjustingtoharshconditionsinthe
countrysidewasdifficultforurbanyouth,itwaslocalofficials,shoulder-
ingtheblameforalmosteverythingthatwentwrong,whoexpresseddeep
frustrationabouttheirjobofmanaginghundredsofurbanteenagerssent
totheirvillages.Manyarchivalreportsvoicedtheworriesoflocalofficials
aboutsent-downyouthwhodidnottendtheirvegetableplotsorcollect
firewood, and who overstayed their winter home visits and therefore
could not earn enough work points to support themselves. Officials
grappled with issues concerning dating, cohabitation, and pregnancies
amongsent-downyouth.Groupsofyouthwhomurbanofficialsregarded
as hoodlums, and were anxious to send to the countryside, sometimes
refused to work and engaged in gang fights, causing local authorities
particular consternation. They also complained about the intervention,
ifnotthesubversionoftheirauthority,bytheweiwentuan.
Theintegrationofruralvoiceswiththoseofurbanparticipantschanges
the ways in which we understand the history of the sent-down youth
movement. It becomes not simply a story of China’s “lost generation,”
butinsteadonethatrevealstheburdensimposedbythiscampaignonan
alreadybeleagueredandimpoverishedruralpopulation,whichservedto
intensifyanurban–ruraldividethatpermeatedallsectorsoftheChinese
population.Althoughthestagesofthemovementthatwedescribe(mobi-
lization,settlementinthecountryside,recruitmenttofactoriesanduni-
versities, and returning to the city) echo those that frame other studies,
thearchivalrecordsmakevisibletheprocesses,conversations,andnego-
tiations that underlay each of these phases. They reveal how relocating
(cid:16)(cid:35)(cid:42)(cid:34)(cid:32)(cid:35)3(cid:25)7(cid:25)(cid:1)8(cid:37)(cid:35)(cid:33)(cid:1):DD(cid:36)C(cid:14)(cid:4)(cid:4)(cid:42)(cid:42)(cid:42) 53(cid:33)4(cid:37)(cid:30)(cid:25)97 (cid:35)(cid:37)9(cid:4)5(cid:35)(cid:37)7 (cid:1)2(cid:34)(cid:30)(cid:41)7(cid:37)C(cid:30)DH(cid:1)(cid:35)8(cid:1).(cid:35)(cid:34)9(cid:1)/(cid:35)(cid:34)9(cid:1)0(cid:30)4(cid:37)3(cid:37)(cid:30)7C(cid:2)(cid:1)(cid:35)(cid:34)(cid:1)(cid:6)(cid:7)(cid:1)13H(cid:1)(cid:7)(cid:5)(cid:7)(cid:5)(cid:1)3D(cid:1)(cid:6)(cid:9)(cid:14)(cid:5)(cid:5)(cid:14)(cid:10)(cid:8)(cid:2)(cid:1)C(cid:40)4(cid:31)75D(cid:1)D(cid:35)(cid:1)D:7(cid:1),3(cid:33)4(cid:37)(cid:30)(cid:25)97
,(cid:35)(cid:37)7(cid:1)D7(cid:37)(cid:33)C(cid:1)(cid:35)8(cid:1)(cid:40)C7(cid:2)(cid:1)3(cid:41)3(cid:30)(cid:32)34(cid:32)7(cid:1)3D(cid:1):DD(cid:36)C(cid:14)(cid:4)(cid:4)(cid:42)(cid:42)(cid:42) 53(cid:33)4(cid:37)(cid:30)(cid:25)97 (cid:35)(cid:37)9(cid:4)5(cid:35)(cid:37)7(cid:4)D7(cid:37)(cid:33)C (cid:1):DD(cid:36)C(cid:14)(cid:4)(cid:4)(cid:25)(cid:35)(cid:30) (cid:35)(cid:37)9(cid:4)(cid:6)(cid:5) (cid:6)(cid:5)(cid:6)(cid:11)(cid:4)(cid:13)(cid:11)(cid:12)(cid:6)(cid:6)(cid:5)(cid:12)(cid:10)(cid:13)(cid:10)(cid:11)(cid:7)(cid:12) (cid:5)(cid:5)(cid:6)
Introduction 5
youngurbanresidentstoremoteruralvillagesre-enforcedthebeliefthat
ruralandurbanpeoplewerefundamentallydifferent.Althoughattention
tothevoicesofruralcadresarticulatedinthearchivalrecordsattesttothe
rural–urbandividethatbothinformedandwasintensifiedbythemove-
ment,theyalsoexposesurprisinglinkagesthatwereestablished.
Authorsofthedocumentsinlocalarchiveswerebynomeansempow-
eredtomakedecisionsaboutpolicy.Butthereportsandcommunications
unwittingly show the more local and everyday decisions made by low-
levelcadres.Maoistslogansandstatedirectivesmayhavebeenpromul-
gated and implemented through mass campaigns, but urban and rural
government officials infused them with their own meanings, sometimes
reconfiguringtheoriginalintent,othertimesconformingtotheletterof
thedirectivewhilealteringitsspirit,andinsomeinstancesignoringthem
altogether.Thedecisiontoendthesent-downyouthmovement,tenyears
afteritslaunching,wasnottheresultofpopularresistance,norcanitbe
reducedto thedeathof Mao.Rather,itmaybe understoodas deathby
documents, the extraordinary proliferation of local reports that increas-
ingly conveyed the unwelcome message that “the problems cannot be
solved.”
Althougharchivalmaterialsareatthecenterofthisanalysisofthesent-
down youth movement, our study also benefits from sources of several
other types that have become increasingly available in recent decades.
Document collections, local gazetteers, and institutional histories pub-
lished since the late 1980s make it possible to understand the archival
recordsinabroaderhistoricalcontext.Personalaccountsofparticipants
inthemovementalsohelpcontextualizethearchivalrecords.Thereare
also memoirs published in the first two decades after the movement
ended, some crafted to satisfy the sensibilities of an English-speaking
readership,chroniclingastoryofsufferingandvictimhood.
Beginninginthe1990s,manyformersent-downyouthbegantoclaim
their experience in the countryside as a source of pride and became
prolificinchroniclingthisperiodoftheirlives.Theyestablishedassocia-
tions; organized reunions and conferences; published magazines and
newsletters; collected historical records of their experiences; and raised
funds to provide financial relief, social services and support to former
sent-downyouth.Thewebsitesestablishedbytheirassociationsbeganto
provide a forum for extended informal recollections and conversations
among sent-down youth, and between the youth and those who once
hostedthem.Manyprovincesandruralcountiesthathadaccommodated
sent-down youth have in turn compiled collections of oral histories of
both the youth and locals, published selections of local government
documents, and incorporated accounts of the sent-down youth into
(cid:16)(cid:35)(cid:42)(cid:34)(cid:32)(cid:35)3(cid:25)7(cid:25)(cid:1)8(cid:37)(cid:35)(cid:33)(cid:1):DD(cid:36)C(cid:14)(cid:4)(cid:4)(cid:42)(cid:42)(cid:42) 53(cid:33)4(cid:37)(cid:30)(cid:25)97 (cid:35)(cid:37)9(cid:4)5(cid:35)(cid:37)7 (cid:1)2(cid:34)(cid:30)(cid:41)7(cid:37)C(cid:30)DH(cid:1)(cid:35)8(cid:1).(cid:35)(cid:34)9(cid:1)/(cid:35)(cid:34)9(cid:1)0(cid:30)4(cid:37)3(cid:37)(cid:30)7C(cid:2)(cid:1)(cid:35)(cid:34)(cid:1)(cid:6)(cid:7)(cid:1)13H(cid:1)(cid:7)(cid:5)(cid:7)(cid:5)(cid:1)3D(cid:1)(cid:6)(cid:9)(cid:14)(cid:5)(cid:5)(cid:14)(cid:10)(cid:8)(cid:2)(cid:1)C(cid:40)4(cid:31)75D(cid:1)D(cid:35)(cid:1)D:7(cid:1),3(cid:33)4(cid:37)(cid:30)(cid:25)97
,(cid:35)(cid:37)7(cid:1)D7(cid:37)(cid:33)C(cid:1)(cid:35)8(cid:1)(cid:40)C7(cid:2)(cid:1)3(cid:41)3(cid:30)(cid:32)34(cid:32)7(cid:1)3D(cid:1):DD(cid:36)C(cid:14)(cid:4)(cid:4)(cid:42)(cid:42)(cid:42) 53(cid:33)4(cid:37)(cid:30)(cid:25)97 (cid:35)(cid:37)9(cid:4)5(cid:35)(cid:37)7(cid:4)D7(cid:37)(cid:33)C (cid:1):DD(cid:36)C(cid:14)(cid:4)(cid:4)(cid:25)(cid:35)(cid:30) (cid:35)(cid:37)9(cid:4)(cid:6)(cid:5) (cid:6)(cid:5)(cid:6)(cid:11)(cid:4)(cid:13)(cid:11)(cid:12)(cid:6)(cid:6)(cid:5)(cid:12)(cid:10)(cid:13)(cid:10)(cid:11)(cid:7)(cid:12) (cid:5)(cid:5)(cid:6)
6 Introduction
theirlocalgazetteers.Atthesametime,personalrecollectionsofweiwen-
tuanmembersandofficialswhoworkedinsent-downyouthofficeshave
appeared. All of these accounts, in addition to our own interviews with
formersent-downyouthandvillagerswhohostedthem,enableustoput
apersonalperspectiveindialoguewiththedocumentaryrecord.
In addition to these newly available sources, we also consulted news-
papers,particularlytheShanghailocalpaperJiefangribao.Onthesurface,
newspapers issued government propaganda to the public, with articles
praising the success of the movement: stories of idealistic urban youth
whoselflesslycommittedtolifeinthecountrysideaswellasportraitsof
villagerswhowelcomedtheyouthwithexcitementandenthusiasm.Yet
newspaperscanalsobereadagainstthegrain,asreflectingproblemswith
the movement, reporting, for instance, on city parents who were not
sufficientlyenthusiasticaboutsendingtheirsonsanddaughtersawayor
onShanghaicadreswhowerereluctanttobedispatchedtothecountry-
sidetomonitorthemovement.
All these materials complemented the archival records of the sent-
down youth offices. Based on this research, our study both builds on
anddepartsfromprioranalysesofthesent-downyouthmovement.One
of the first major studies, Thomas Bernstein’s Up to the Mountains and
Down to the Villages: The Transfer of Youth from Urban to Rural China,
exploreswhetherthemovement,revolutionaryinitspremisethat“edu-
catedurbanitescanbecomepeasants,”couldeverhaveachieveditsgoal
of closing the gap between urban and rural China.4 Drawing on media
accounts as well as interviews with refugees in Hong Kong, his careful
analysis of the ideological and practical rationales for the movement
details the challenges of mobilizing urban youth and accommodating
theminremoteruralareas.Bernsteinhighlightsthewaysinwhichsent-
downyouth,evenifresentfuloftherequirementtoliveinimpoverished
villages,contributed to ruraleconomic development,a theme amplified
in more recent studies, such as those by Sigrid Schmalzer and Miriam
Gross, of scientific and technological development under Maoist
policies.5 Our study adds a new dimension to these observations by
considering the extensive and complicated negotiations between urban
andruralofficialsthatmadesuchdevelopmentpossibleinthecontextof
thesent-downyouthmovement,andtheparticularwaysinwhichalarge
industrial city such as Shanghai, in order to improve the welfare of its
4Bernstein,3–4.
5See Sigrid Schmalzer, Red Revolution, Green Revolution: Scientific Farming in Socialist
China(Chicago:UniversityofChicagoPress,2016);andMiriamGross,Farewelltothe
God of Plague: Chairman Mao’s Campaign to Deworm China (Berkeley: University of
CaliforniaPress),2016.
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