When I was three years old
The Cultural Revolution through my eyes
When I was three years old, my mother had go to a small town and work in a clinic. This was because she didn’t resign from her job as a Doctor when the government asked her divorce with my father. My father had been denounced as a counter-revolutionary because his family had moved to Hong Kong after Mao had taken power in 1949. My grandfather had been killed under the general orders of Mao and my grandmother did not feel safe. They told my mother that she would have to divorce my father or she could not work in the big hospitals as a Doctor. She was a surgeon at the time and had a brilliant career ahead of her. She told the authorities that she would not divorce my father. She said that her children needed a father and that she would stand by him. So she was sent to a small country town to be the Doctor. She had to work seven days a week and be on call 24 hours a day. She had no transport and had to walk everywhere.
I was so young, so I went with my mother. My sister went with my father to another town to live on a small farm there.
In Mao Zhedong ‘s time this was the bad people’s work place.
I remember my mother with me live in one small room. The winter was so cold. We had big snow. Mother asked a farmer who live in this town to make cotton shoes for me. This country town‘s people were very honest and fairly friendly. Our life was not easy then. My mother worked so long. I always stayed at home myself. At the lunchtime I took a bowl and went to the clinic’s canteen and stand in a line waiting for my mother to arrive for lunch. I was three years old, I done many things myself.
I remember one night my mother went to work, and she asked the next door ‘aunty’ (we call female friends ‘aunty’) to look after me, but she didn’t come to the house that night. I didn’t know why ‘aunty’ had not come my home. I was afraid to stay at home myself at night, so I wanted to go and find my mother. Outside had big snow. I walked and walked, loosing shoe along the way. I was very, very cold and I didn’t know where to find my mother, so after walking around in the snow I went home. It was very dark outside. When I opened the door I saw a large black rat in the room. I was alone and very scared. I ran to hide in the wardrobe, my heart going bump, bump, but I hit my head on the door sill and knocked myself out.
When I woke up I was lying in my mother’s clinic. My mother cried, I was cried, I said: ‘ma we go home find father, father can catch the rat.’
After one year, my mother bring me go to father to live on the farm. Our family live together once again.
INDEX
2. I was so young in the ten years of the Cultural Revolution
3. Guangxi Revolution & Civil War
5. We stayed at the 'Correction' farm
7. We leave the 'Correction' farm
9. I turned seven and go to school
10. We had near a year quiet time
11. We didn't feel excited, we knew this day must come
