There are often studies based on the different effects of micro factors on individual happiness, but few people have explored the differentiating effect of social development and transformation on happiness from a macro perspective.
In fact, the impact of the macro social environment on happiness is generally through the construction of structural characteristics, and there are obvious differences in happiness among urban and rural residents of different genders, ages and education levels.
Nowadays, the labor market is almost "post-80s", "post-90s", and even "post-00s", if you say that the happiness survey of this generation, the main factors affecting happiness are "urgent employment situation", "work pressure is too large", "family tension", "marriage and love confusion" and other reasons.
But looking at the grandparents who seem to have been nurturing at home, what are the factors that affect their happiness? Or, in the 1940s, what uncontrollable factors had a joyful or tragic impact on the lives of their ancestors? This is a trace of the flow, but also a long-term reunion with a sense of belonging.
The cohort, born in the 1940s, benefited from the economic take-off brought about by the founding of the People's Republic of China, and this group of people gradually escaped suffering and received a relatively stable education in their youth, with the opportunity to distribute jobs and start families. This is the first wave of subjective happiness after the birth of the 40s.
At the same time, people born after 1947 were correspondingly affected by a decade of upheavals, with some being directly forced to give up their right to systematic education and suspend their studies; others being delayed by the "going to the mountains and going to the countryside" movement to achieve stable jobs, starting families, and other landmark events that marked the transition to adulthood.
However, a temporary path not only works on the post-40s youth, this experience can even have a long-term negative impact on the individual's entire career trajectory. Therefore, if you want to argue whether the tenacious surviving "post-40s" are the lucky generation or the unfortunate generation, we must base ourselves on their survival process and divide it into two dialectical views.
Nowadays, it is often said: "The great change that has not occurred in a hundred years has arrived." In fact, the beginning of the change began as early as the victory of the anti-fascist war and the founding of New China, and the "post-40s" who were "born in the old society and grew up under the red flag" still had a Venus-like brilliance in their eyes when talking about that glorious period.
First of all, seeing the new changes in the governance of the country, we have carried out frontier construction in a big way. Japan's all-round invasion of China and the westward relocation of the national government have aroused great concern among the Chinese people about the frontier issue, and in an editorial published by the Central Daily in 1946 entitled "The Urgent Task of Border Construction in Yunnan", it was emphasized that the factors of instability in many places had not yet been eliminated.
Zheng Guanying of the late Qing Dynasty once observed: "Since ancient times, China has had border troubles. ”
The complication of the frontier issue in modern China is not only an important manifestation of the imperialist powers' invasion of China, but also the result of the imperialist invasion of China. It is precisely because of growing up in such an era of turmoil and stability, laziness and turning to distress, that the "post-40s" and their parents belong to the nationally awakened generation and generally have a certain political vigilance and sense of sovereignty.
Unlike some contemporary "post-80s", "post-90s", and "post-00s" who grew up in coastal prosperous areas, they are confused by the legend of miasma in the border areas and stay away from the border areas, and the "post-40s" who have experienced the War of Resistance Against Japan, the War of Liberation, the founding of New China, and the political struggles of large and small sizes are deeply aware that "the frontier issue is a problem for the whole country."
What that generation "ate" was not a Japanese manga or a Korean drama blockbuster, but Jiang Yingliang's admonition with a loud voice: "Since the National Government had a frontier policy, it is needless to say that the focus of its gaze is in the northwest and not in the southwest." ”
Second, experience the debate on China's development path and ponder China's future and destiny.
In the 1940s, whether China should take the road of "agricultural statehood" or "industrial statehood" has been called "the old choice of re-mentioning". This problem was raised as early as li hongzhang, Zhang Zhidong and others when they changed the law and tried to become stronger, while Europe had already been raised more than two hundred years ago and was widely resolved in various countries.
The duration of this controversy is not short, and some of the "post-40s" have been able to talk about this controversy for the first time, but most of them are still the students in the middle school of the country with a childish and enthusiastic voice: "In the past, China was founded on agriculture, and now China is still a country based on agriculture, and in the future China will still be a country based on agriculture." ”
Or to return to our partners in higher decibels: "To get China up from its roots, we must catch up with industry." ”
The two argued with Yang Kaidao and Zhou Xianwen's arguments.
In this controversy over the survival of the people, all the spit and red faces are to discuss China's future, which is a strong China that has matured in 2021, has a perfect development plan, and is steadily advancing in real time to recover, this political atmosphere in which almost everyone is an enlightener and everyone is a pioneer of progress is also very new to the "post-40s".
The "agricultural state-building faction" believes that China's future is to establish a modern agricultural state, which is neither a Pure Agricultural State of the Danish style nor a vassal agricultural country of the Australian style, nor a medium-sized agricultural country of the Indian style, but a self-sufficient and independent agricultural country.
Both represent the interests of the newly emerging industrial and agricultural circles during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, one demanding agricultural modernization and building a modern agricultural state; the other demanding industrial mechanization and establishing a modern industrial state.
In fact, it is impossible and meaningless to compete for a "state of agriculture" and "a nation of industry" to be able to live to the death, and simply emphasizing a certain aspect of agriculture or industry is the imprint of extreme ideas.
This kind of controversy "post-40s" has also participated in many times voluntarily or semi-voluntarily since then, and perhaps most of this generation has been forced to suspend their studies, and they cannot listen to the master shake his head and chant the way of moderation, and everything is stopped, but the mysterious and quiet atmosphere of their old age is summed up from the practice of struggle again and again.
Since then, all the heated debates seem to have been based on the "agricultural state" and "industrial state" disputes of the 1940s, and the reason for this matter is that both sides of the debate have reached a consensus on "agricultural industrialization".
As far as the distant future is concerned, but because the "agricultural state-building" and "industrial state-building"ists of that day are discussing China's economic construction from a purely technical point of view, their social significance is essentially the same.
Finally, the abolition of the old marriage system was truly completed, and everyone built a small family.
Although the Provisional Covenant Law promulgated in 1912 explicitly provided for the implementation of "monogamy", due to the huge resistance to reform, this regulation was not really implemented during the Republic of China period, and it was not until the promulgation of the Marriage Law on May 1, 1950, that the polygamy system was truly abolished and the marriage status of men and women was ushered in.
The reform of the marriage system was accompanied by the simultaneous implementation of the birth of the "post-40s", and as early as the strict implementation of the "monogamy" in the Marriage Law, the CPC Central Committee conducted exercises on the reform of the marriage system inside and outside the party.
After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the CCP went deep into the southern Jin dynasty, and while establishing anti-Japanese base areas, it was deeply lamented by the backward marriage customs in the local area, and thus promulgated a series of marriage decrees and regulations. At that time, only the marriage customs in the Southern Jin region were extremely backward? In the past, China, before the birth of the "post-40s", there were thousands of "little Jinnan".
In these backward mountainous areas, backward phenomena such as buying and selling marriages, early marriages and age disparities, and child brides-in-law are extremely common.
As far as buying and selling marriage is concerned, it is not only the poor who buy and sell marriage – the reflection on the transformation of the phenomenon of marriage and sale is related to the understanding of the essential impact of the founding of New China on the "post-40s" and even later generations.
Before the establishment of an equal "monogamous system", marriages were bought and sold everywhere, rich or poor.
There are only slight differences in means between the two: the poor woman may be dragged away directly as a cargo, leaving her father and mother with a string of silver coins, a cow or a pig, and a few holes in the cave; the slightly more substantial families of the rich and the gentry are mostly in the name of dowries and clothes and jewelry; and the exchange of children is said to be extremely poor and foolish.
Naked money transactions are ruthless violations of women's human rights, and the implementation of "monogamy" is a sacred and inviolable protection of marriage, a ruthless flogging of the system of women's trade, and an important measure to improve women's status and promote women's liberation.
Therefore, the "post-40s" generation of Chinese citizens whose human rights have been protected by the Marriage Law since birth must be extremely fortunate.
Therefore, the "post-40s" generation is an extremely fortunate generation, compared with their predecessors, they were born with a relatively peaceful and stable state protection, with various laws to protect their basic rights and interests; compared with later generations, they were born in an epic era, the reddest red flag, the most heroes, the most agitated national changes, is actually a witness to the beginning of a century of changes.
It can be said that success is also Xiao He, and defeat is also Xiao He. For the "post-40s", it is extremely fortunate to witness a glorious history, but in the whirlpool of turbulent change, it is for the pioneers, who have landed, and are slowly called "elders" in the ups and downs of the years; and more people, all their lives, are licking the wounds torn by the ice edges of the huge waves, until the last person sinks to the bottom of the sea.
First, the bitterness and saltiness of the young years.
The "post-40s" generation is the first generation to receive education in New China, and it is also the mainstream group that has been terminated from education and "went to the mountains and the countryside". But in fact, blindly emphasizing suffering is meaningless - of course, it is necessary to affirm and love this generation of "post-40s", only by sublimating suffering and thinking deeply day and night without sleep, can we live up to the suffering we have suffered.
The "post-40s" intellectuals and young people encountered the "going to the mountains and going to the countryside" movement to a certain extent, which explained the stark inequality between urban and rural areas at that time and the inferior position of rural society.
On the one hand, Zhiqing shows the image of a wanderer who has been "expelled" to the countryside; on the other hand, the countryside presents an image of suffering and waiting for transformation. As if in the urban-rural relationship, the city has original sin, and the urban and rural identity of Zhiqing and its pain are mixed in the real relationship of urban-rural inequality.
Why are the villages where the "post-40s" Zhiqing were expelled to suffer crimes instead of recuperation vacations? It was not the orientation of the policy that led to this phenomenon, but the separation and inequality of the urban-rural dual pattern at that time caused such a deep suffering of the "post-40s" Zhiqing - and even gave rise to the category of "Zhiqing Literature", which is exclusively based on identity as a classification name.
The "post-40s" zhiqing are indeed unfortunate, but their misfortune does not lie in their "going to the mountains and going to the countryside", so today's "college student village officials" and "young grassroots cadres" are not miserable?
The fundamental difference between the two lies in the difference of the times, the former being forced to "degrade" under the extremely fragmented situation of urban and rural society; the latter being the builders who, under the call of the new era, actively choose to feed the countryside with ideals.
The two seem to be formally still the same, but there is a world of difference in motivation, evolution motive and core.
The misfortune of the "post-40s" Zhiqing is not only that they cannot make the choice to listen to my heart, but also that the vast majority of people cannot recognize the root cause of their suffering, and they complain and self-pity to attribute their suffering to backward villages.
What is the point of the backwardness of the countryside, vainly resenting this land without its own flower crown goddess, or complaining but not willing to build? It is just a hungry intestine chewing on the flesh and blood, unable to spit out, unable to swallow.
Second, the living standards of the population are low. In the early days of the founding of New China, among the sufferings suffered by the "post-40s", the most unbearable was probably hunger.
In 1942, the outbreak of the Great Famine in Henan, Chiang Kai-shek in order to block the Japanese army to the west, blew up the Yellow River Garden Mouth, the Yellow River water diversion, the year of Henan severe drought, in this drought, incomplete statistics of more than 3 million people were starved alive, more than 1 million people died of disease or disappearance, and among the dead, except for the elderly, is the newborn newborn who was just born.
During the Great Famine of 1960, there was a spring famine in 15 provinces in China, resulting in nearly 1 billion mu of 1.6 billion mu of arable land being affected, which was the most serious famine since the founding of New China. People are hungry, leaves, bark, sweet potatoes, wild fruits, and everything that can be eaten in the mountains in the field has been swept away.
Naturally, this is an extreme situation that has occurred in two special periods, if we talk about living standards, it is natural that before the reform and opening up, before the "vegetable basket project" was started, most of the "post-40s" families who had already established a family were the mainstream, a long-term and stable living state.
A well-known writer has published the account books of the family for half a year: one pound of boned pork, one pound of vegetable oil, and 5 pounds of boned pig head. And this is the food expense that the family of six can barely write in the account book for half a year. On average, it is 2 yuan 6 cents per person per month of fat oil and 126 cents of boned pork.
To sum up, the "post-40s" have the glory of a generation, but under the glory, there is an unspeakable pain basket - the years of knowing the youth, the years of zhuangding, the years of the "locusts"... At different times, they played different roles, and together they created a myth that lasted more than half a century.
[1] Duan Jinsheng, "Frontier Issues and National Construction: The Perception of Frontier Development in Yunnan Political and Academic Circles in the 1940s"
[2] Liu Dejun; Cui Shanshan, "The CCP's Marriage Policy and the Transformation of Marriage Customs in Southern Jin" in the 1940s
[3] Luo Zhaohui, "The Dispute Between "Building the Country with Agriculture" and "Building the State with Industry": A Reconfirmation of the Controversy over China's Development Path in the 1940s"
[4] Liu Yaqiu, "Research on the Relationship between the Suffering of Zhiqing and Rural Cities"
[5] Wu Maohua: "Reading the Old Account Book"