![]() ![]() Among the most intent on harnessing history for political gain are the current leaders of the Chinese Communist Party. Rulers, though forbidden from interfering, of course tried. During imperial times, dating back thousands of years and enduring until the collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1911, historians’ dedication to recording the truth was viewed as a check against wrongdoing by the emperor. I n China, history long occupied a quasi-religious status. This article was published online on December 18, 2020. On June 6, 1966, I was singled out as a "bourgeois academic authority." My.During the Cultural Revolution, a rebel group subjects a rival leader to a criticism session. I edited this manuscript very lightly by correcting a few grammatical errors while leaving most of the text in her own words. Because the original manuscript is over one hundred pages long, I have chosen an excerpt that describes most poignantly the ordeal she underwent in 1966. This manuscript reveals in detail the innumerable hardships and abuses inflicted on her because of her background, but at the same time, it demonstrates her considerable courage and dignity during those trying times. While many books and articles discuss the plight of Chinese citizens during the Cultural Revolution, Jew, if any, have described the horrors undergone by a Chinese American. ![]() In my conversations with my great-aunt, she admitted that oftentimes in the English language materials that she wrote for her students, she would have them practice conversations that began with "How are you?" She did not know that these materials would become the basis for torturing her: However, they proved to be a major downfall for her during the Cultural Revolution when students complained that ordinary conversations in China never started with "How are you?" and that the greeting was typical only of Americans. They accused her of indoctrinating students in American customs. During interrogation sessions, Red Guards repeatedly asked her, "Why were you born in America?" and then beat her when she refused to utter a nonsensical "yes"-the only answer that was acceptable to the students. Her American heritage proved to be a major liability. ![]() Red Guards at the Shanghai Foreign Languages Institute where my great-aunt taught, identified her as a "capitalist roader," in large part because she was born in the United States. The students were told to attack "counterrevolutionaries" among their teachers. A newly formed Cultural Revolution Group, headed by Mao's wife, Jiang Qing, and personal secretary Chen Poda, eventually closed schools in China and encouraged students to join the Red Guards. Leaders such as Liu 5haoqi and Deng Xiaoping were arrested and purged from the government. In 1965 Mao Zedong, the Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, started the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution which appeared to have two main purposes: to drive out people he thought were bureaucratic and capitalist sympathizers in the government and to revitalize revolutionary fervor throughout China. The government, recognizing his ability, assigned him various research projects to do in prison. He became a talented, self-taught mathematician. My great-aunt told me that she sent books to Daniel during this time in the hope that he could educate himself. (2) Daniel was forced out of school and into prison where he spent approximately twenty years of his life. At that time, my great-aunt's son, Daniel, was condemned as a "rightist" because his mother was an American citizen and he was associated with a pro-democracy school newspaper. In 1957 the Chinese Communist Party launched an "anti-rightist" movement against persons thought to be bourgeois and antirevolutionary. A FEW PRELIMINARY WORDS BY LAURENE WU MCCLAIN
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