Memories of barracks life

© Cai Xia/Wen

　　Twenty-nine years ago, our 67th and 68th college graduates were assigned to the PLA farm for re-education after the "baptism of battle" of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. What is written here is the true story of what happened in that special military camp life.

　　On the eve of graduation

　　At the turn of the summer and autumn of 1968, the vigorous Cultural Revolution entered the stage of "fighting, criticizing, and reforming," and the workers, peasants, and soldiers Mao Zedong Thought propaganda team was stationed in colleges and middle schools and occupied the educational position. The young Red Guards generals who had been in the limelight during the Cultural Revolution enthusiastically responded to Chairman Mao's call and went to the countryside and to the industrial mines with revolutionary pride, taking the road of integrating with the workers and peasants. The upsurge of intellectual youth going to the mountains and going to the countryside is booming. On August 24, Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan Province, held a meeting to bid farewell to the first batch of intellectual youths going to the mountains and going to the countryside, and in the midst of the noise of gongs and drums and the sound of firecrackers, Xue Ximei and 71 other Zhengzhou middle school students responded to Chairman Mao's call for "broad heaven and earth, great achievements" and rushed to the People's Commune of Yuxian County, Henan Province, to "endure the wind and rain, see the world, roll in mud, and refine a red heart."

　　The tide of going up the mountain and going to the countryside shakes the heart of every young student. Where do we graduate from the class of 67 and 68? Faced with the question of where to go, the school workers' propaganda team organized us to study over and over again Chairman Mao's theory on the integration of intellectuals with workers and peasants: "The final demarcation of revolutionary non-revolutionary or counter-revolutionary intellectuals depends on whether they are willing and practice integration with the workers and peasants." "To see if a young man is revolutionary, what is the criterion?" What to discern it? There is only one criterion, and that is to see whether he is willing or unwilling, and whether he practices it or not is combined with the broad masses of workers and peasants." We criticize "reading books and making official statements" and the petty bourgeois "hedonism," "individualism," and "money worship" again and again, and we express our determination and vow in front of Chairman Mao's statue: obey the distribution and go to the most difficult places! As a result, we had no choice but to be assigned to PLA farms and rural areas for re-education.

　　In September 1968, more than 200 graduates of the 67th and 68th classes of Henan Agricultural College, together with other colleges and universities in the province and college students assigned from other provinces, went to Pingdingshan, Anyang, Kaifeng, Shangqiu, Hubei and other liberated farms for labor training.

　　"Kindergarten Kindergarten"

　　It was a crisp autumn day, and we were a group of more than 100 people, singing revolutionary songs, and riding all the way from Zhengzhou to the People's Liberation Army Farm of Unit 8221 in Pingdingshan. As soon as we got out of the car, the head of the unit and the soldiers welcomed us warmly and busied themselves with arranging food and accommodation. Rows of bungalow dormitories are cleaned up, giving people a simple and comfortable feeling. In the afternoon, we were in groups of three or five, familiar with the environment. It was a small farm of about 500 acres, and to the south was an artificial river (later known as the Cham River), the water was clear and deep, flowing slowly, with weeping willows on the shore and grass growing in the shade. Our barracks are close to the shore. There are no autumn crops in the fields, only wheat stubble still struggling tenaciously with its head on its back (maybe waiting for us to reclaim it!). Looking north, the flat-topped mountain is very close, the mountain is not majestic, but the appearance is strange, the abrupt top is flat, and it is worthy of the name. What an idyllic setting! After dinner, we were getting ready to sleep after a long day of running, when we overheard the military trumpets ringing, and then we assembled urgently. Unprepared, one by one, we were loose and collapsed, sparsely stretched, and lined up to listen to the company commander's speech: "From today onwards, you are no longer PLA soldiers who do not wear uniforms, soldiers have the rules of soldiers, all actions are under command, watch movies tonight, are not allowed to take leave, and are not allowed to leave early." "Then each person was given a small square stool, and we lined up in a less neat line and walked at a not-so-neat pace to the open-air cinema — the wheat field. The company commander shouted "Put on a stool, sit down," and dozens of us college students in their 20s pounced and sat down like dumplings. "Stand up, sit down!" The platoon commander ordered, "Stand up again, sit down again!" "Just like this repeated a few times, still not ideal, the movie began... The next day, some people jokingly called the first night's scene "Kindergarten". Then, we "kindergarten students" began the first military training. In the last two years of university life, we stopped classes and made a revolution, our discipline was poor, our freedom was loose, and now we are suddenly nervous, and we are really a little uncomfortable. Military training is arduous, boring, only mechanical movements, standardized actions. At 5 o'clock in the morning, the crisp, loud wake-up call awakened our good dreams, and we scrambled to get up, dress, wash our faces, brush our teeth, and ask to be completed in a matter of minutes. In the first few days, either this dress was worn wrong, or the shoe was worn backwards; this trouser belt was not fastened, the button of that was wrong; this hair was not combed, that face was not washed, and there were many foreign appearances. The PLA's requirements are very strict, upright, take a break, walk in unison, run, train over and over again, as well as real gun shooting training, glorious traditional ideological education, etc., at this time we college students who think that we have undergone the tempering of the Cultural Revolution feel that compared with the PLA, we are really "big class children"! In a month of military training life, our faces were tanned, our physique was strong, the team was neat, the discipline was strong, and the "kindergarten students" really became soldiers who did not wear military uniforms!

　　Ideological education

　　If we compare the first stage of military training to a "kindergarten in a large class," the ideological education in the second stage is "upgraded."

　　We came to the PLA farm with all kinds of ideas. Some people believe that we have made great achievements in the Cultural Revolution, and there is no need to receive re-education now. Some people think that we have knowledge and culture, and which point is not better than the workers, peasants, and soldiers? Others think that let's come here to do primitive farm work, oversized and underused. In view of all kinds of ideas, the leaders of the armed forces launched a great study and discussion on whether college students should receive re-education. The army was invited to study Chairman Mao's writings and activists to make a report, to ask the old coal miners to talk about the past, to listen to the chiefs of the troops to talk about their war experiences, and to talk about the heroic deeds of revolutionary martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the country. At the same time, we held a lecture on "Fighting Private Criticism and Cultivation" to take various forms to let us receive education in the discussion of the necessity of receiving re-education. The commander of the 8221 unit, Cai Duo, had never been to school since he was a child, he was from a bitter background, after joining the army as a teenager, he carried a gun to fight, participated in the War of Resistance Against Japan and the War of Liberation, carried the enemy's shrapnel on his body, fought in the gap to learn culture and military, and when he told us about his combat experience, how high the mountain was and where the terrain was, he remembered it clearly, and his report was very touching, and we were very convinced.

　　Regarding this period of ideological education, I wrote in my "study notes" of that year: "Through the military training and ideological education in this paragraph, I have understood some truths. Compared with the Plaster, we have drunk ink for a few more years, we have knowledge and culture, but the simplicity, loyalty, hard-working, and noble personality of the PLA are all worth learning. Isn't Lei Feng the hero cultivated in the great school of the People's Liberation Army? The life of the farm is bitter and the farm work is tired, which can temper my will and make me personally experience the profound connotation of 'who knows the plate of Chinese food, the grains are hard'. This passage may sound ridiculous and inconceivable to modern youth. But it was so impressive to me, never to die, unforgettable. For decades, I volunteered to work at the grassroots level and in the countryside, and I developed a deep relationship with workers and peasants. I work diligently and conscientiously, not complacent in the face of honor, not bowing my head in the face of difficulties, not seeking personal gain when power is in hand, and not greedy in the face of money. I have always been an ordinary but unashamed person.

　　"Four no's"

　　College students going to the PLA farms for labor training is a harsh requirement under specific historical conditions, and there will inevitably be some impersonal things, and the "four inaccuracies" are such a product.

　　On the second day of our arrival at the farm, when we were organizing, something incomprehensible happened, namely that male and female students were divided into male and female companies. The men's and women's companies are also some distance apart. In addition to military training and political study, we also have to engage in manual labor to cultivate the land, and male and female students can help each other in agricultural work. After the commander of the unit came to the company to announce discipline to us, we suddenly realized that college students should implement four prohibitions during the period of labor training: one is not allowed to go home to visit relatives, the second is not allowed to fall in love, the third is not allowed to get married, and the fourth is not allowed to live a married life. Good one "four no's"! Like the queen mother's hairpin, a heavenly river divides us into boys and girls. In this way, we female college students can suffer a lot! Manual labor is the heavy work of changing dry land into water land, we roll up our pants like boys, drive buffaloes in the mud, water ploughing, rake the ground, and then planting, management, harvesting, to complete the whole process of rice from planting to harvesting. After a day of farm work, one by one, tired and bones like scattered, but also have to pretend to be indifferent, singing "make up your mind, not afraid of sacrifice, overcome all difficulties, to win", some weak girls only wipe their tears in the bed.

　　On the eve of graduation, some boys and girls were already in love and both came to the farm. The "four no's" made them suffer from the lovesickness of the end of the world, so they sent Qiu Bo away, passed notes, and the incident of Queqiao's secret crossing happened repeatedly, and of course, they were repeatedly reprimanded by the company commander for this. There have even been incidents of party disciplinary punishment for violating the "four no's." There was a female college student, both morally and morally competent, a student party member, a married lover who was an active-duty soldier, and who enjoyed family leave from the far northwest to our farm. It coincided with the "four inaccuracies" that made him puzzled; he actually risked the world's great disobedience and lived here. His wife, the female college student, was punished by party discipline for this.

　　By August 1969, we had been here for a year. The students have adapted to the life of the barracks, but they have always been grumpy about the "four inaccuracies". One day, Liu Jianxun, political commissar of the Henan Provincial Military Region and director of the Provincial Revolutionary Committee, came to our farm to inspect. Because my fiancé is the head of the Red Guards of our school and a member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Revolutionary Committee, he was assigned to the rural labor training 30 kilometers away from here, because of the "four no's", we can't meet each other, everyone encouraged me to go to Liu Jianxun to reflect the "four no's" problem. So I went to see Liu Jianxun. Liu asked, "What about Xiao Fan?" I said, "Cut in line in Ye County." "Do you want to see him?" "Four are not allowed to dare to see." Liu Jianxun smiled, let me get into his car, accompanied by The Commander of the 8221 Unit Cai Division, to the Longhuang Brigade of Tianzhuang Commune in Yexian County, and after seeing my lover, they returned to Pingdingshan together. When I got back to the farm, the farm was boiling! "Ah! Liu Jianxun took the lead in breaking the four inaccuracies, and we were free! Since then, although it has not been officially announced to lift the "four prohibitions", this rule has actually existed in name only. By the end of the exercise in February 1970, there were new couples, and even the People's Liberation Army and female college students were in love. It seems that the "four no's" cannot stop the love of young people, but those who are punished for violating the "four no's" will be wronged in vain.

　　Labor prisoners? university student?

　　The Pingdingshan 8221 Unit Farm, where we worked hard, was originally a labor reform farm. After the troops took over, there were no more prisoners of labor there. We are PLA soldiers who do not wear military uniforms. But the clothes were rotten and could be patched with old military uniforms. Some male students do not know whether they really have no clothes to wear, or are in dissatisfaction with the "four no's", or deliberately silence it, torn clothes and patches, plus hair is ignored, beard is not shaved, and dressed up like a labor prisoner. Once, several male classmates dressed in this way went to the nearby East Workers' Town to buy vegetables together with plagiarists, which attracted the strange eyes of the townspeople, and some whispered to the PLA soldiers, when will they come to the labor camp? The soldier laughed and said, what kind of labor prisoner, is a college student who came to work and exercise! "Ah, college student!" The arrogance in people's minds actually walks on the street like a labor prisoner, which is also a kind of struggle!

　　Sick number meal

　　The People's Liberation Army is a big family of unity and harmony, mutual care, and mutual love; whoever is sick, the company and platoon commanders ask for warmth, and the company also has a special infirmary. There were more than 30 female college students in my platoon, and the platoon leader was a 19-year-old PLA soldier who was both serious and lively, and behind his back we called him "cute little brother." I was appointed deputy platoon leader to take charge of some of the affairs of the female classmates. Female students can not go to morning exercises and do heavy work during menstruation, I asked the platoon leader for leave: ×××, ××× sick, the platoon leader thought that he was really sick, he carried forward the spirit of Lei Feng, and brought these students a "sick number meal", when they ate this fragrant sick number meal, they all giggled. After a long time, "Why do you have a sick number every day?" The platoon commander made a mistake, I was really embarrassed to explain to him in person, so I had to blush and go to the company commander to reflect, let the company commander explain to this simple and cute little brother of the People's Liberation Army!"

　　Joyful barracks life

　　As the saying goes, "A girl plays a play." "Dozens of female college students are even more lively together, returning from labor, and after studying, singing and laughing continuously." It is often a matter of self-written and self-performing programs and self-organized literary and art evenings. The content of the party was rich and colorful: singing revolutionary songs, singing model plays, singing good people and good deeds in this row, singing our good platoon leaders and good company commanders; the forms of the evening party were various: Peking Opera, drama, opera, Allegro book, three and a half sentences, blowing and playing and singing, all kinds of things. Due to the participation of students from the Art Department of the Teacher's College, the quality of the program is quite high.

　　Because the barracks are close to the Cham River, swimming has become one of our favorite sports. Under the guidance of the People's Liberation Army, most of us in the north have learned to swim, and we often hold swimming competitions. It was the only swimmer I've ever had in my life, and I still have the swimsuit of the time.

　　Poetry recitation and speeches will be the best plays of our college students, this Cham River, this flat-topped mountain to add luster to us. "Under the flat top of the mountain, the wind shows the red flag like a picture"! "The two banks of the Cham River are full of chaohui", "The flat-topped mountains are high, and there is no party's favor; the Cham river is deep, and there is no deep class feeling." These passionate sentences are still fresh in my mind.

　　What's even more interesting is joking with our PLA platoon commander. The platoon leader was from Xinyang, Henan, and we asked, "What kind of food will you eat today?" The platoon leader replied, "Rice." "What's rice?" "Rice porridge." These few words became "Sofa?" in the mouth of the platoon leader. "Island Mifa." "Soshima Mifa?" "Island Misifa." So we composed the song for these few sentences of the platoon leader| 5 4| 13 4| 51 34 || 13 74|。 our

　　The company commander is a native of Changyuan County, north of the Yellow River, and his accent pronounces an (安) as ai (哀), and a classmate made up a slip for him: out of the door, to the south (ni), stuffed three cents in his waist (sai, three pronounced sai, money read qiai), bought three mung bean pills (pills read wai), light plus vinegar, no salt (salt read yai), sour and sweet, sour and sweet (acid pronounced suai, sweet read tiai). The company commander read and laughed back and forth, and the classmates also laughed, and the laughter echoed over the farm...

　　To struggle there is sacrifice

　　A year of barracks life has tempered our minds and strengthened our bodies, but it has also paid the price of blood. My classmate Liu Chengjiao, a 68-level agricultural machinery student of Henan Agricultural College, is spicy and capable, and she is not far behind in everything. When she was beating rice in the autumn of 1969, she accidentally twisted her right hand into the threshing machine, and her arm was beaten into a meat paste, and when we pulled her arm out, we saw two bloody fingers tied to the tendon tube, she was very strong and did not cry, although she was immediately sent to the hospital, and then transferred to Shanghai for treatment, but still lost her right hand and became permanently disabled.

　　During the exercise, we also went to pingdingshan ten mines to experience the life of coal miners. There, I witnessed the injury of a 26-year-old miner named Wang Qingjiang. Before going down the well, we were still talking and laughing together, and he let us see a picture of his daughter, and after going down the well, due to the collapse accident, his face was squeezed on the iron pillar, causing facial injuries, teeth all falling out, and crushing his collarbone. 10 days of mine life made me deeply appreciate the hard work and dedication of coal miners.

　　In March 1970, we ended this special barracks life and were redistributed to work in various places. Today, we are more than half a hundred years old. After going through vicissitudes and recalling the past, there is passion, sweat, joy, melancholy, regret, and reflection, but more importantly, we have really become an ordinary soldier, tempered ourselves in pain and tiredness, and removed the arrogance and petulance. "Experience is wealth, suffering is the teacher", whenever I tell these stories to the children, they are always as unbelievable as listening to the book, but it is indeed a true story.

　　This article is excerpted from "1966: Memories of Our Generation", Xu Youyu/ed., China Federation of Literary and Art Publishing House, October 1998.