ISBN:
9789004292277
,
9789004292031
Language:
English
Pages:
XI, 445 Seiten
,
Illustrationen
Parallel Title:
Erscheint auch als
Parallel Title:
Erscheint auch als Exiled pilgrims
DDC:
307.2/60925350951
Keywords:
Geschichte 1964-1965
;
Teenagers Biography
;
Problem youth Biography
;
Pilgrims and pilgrimages Biography
;
Exiles Biography
;
Marginality, Social History 20th century
;
Urban-rural migration History 20th century
;
Discrimination Political aspects 20th century
;
History
;
China Biography History 1949-1976
;
China Rural conditions
;
China Politics and government 1949-1976
;
Erlebnisbericht
;
China
;
Ländlicher Raum
;
Geschichte 1964-1965
Abstract:
"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
Abstract:
"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
Note:
Foreword
,
Part 1. The call of mountains ; Youth training school in Chengdu
,
In remembrance of those long-gone years
,
The road to Xinjiang
,
Between Chongqing and Yunnan
,
Boarding the Westbound 413
,
Friends in Southern Hunan
,
Tales of Camp Harmony
,
Part 2. An illusive utopia ; "Higher intellectuals" on our farm
,
Behind the clouds
,
Grain "looters"
,
Snow leopard
,
We were once all "hukou soldiers"
,
Unlucky emigre
,
My days in Well Pass
,
Sixth aunt
,
Lost love in the Daba Mountains
,
Part 3. On the altar of the Revolution ; Songs of October
,
Withered youth
,
The choice between life and death
,
Massacre in Nanjiang
,
Born to be criminal
,
In those wintry days
,
The fortieth anniversary of Wang Baiming's death
,
Part 4. The long journey home ; My twelve years as a zhiqing
,
Teacher Qin
,
Years in Dragon Spring
,
Self-taught doctor from the mountains
,
My dream of college
,
Troublesome personal data form
,
The ordeal of job hunting
,
Disability certification
,
The long way home
,
My father
,
Appendix 1: Directive concerning the political evaluation of high school and middle school students in Chongqing Municipality in 1964 ; Appendix 2: Political evaluation criteria for admissions by non-special fields of study in colleges ; Appendix 3: Political evaluation criteria for admissions by secondary schools ; Glossary.
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