I have to leave the house at 7:15 am in order to make it to my 8:00 class on time. Distance wise, the house is not far from Nanjing University, but because of the traffic, it takes so long. The streets are filled with cars all fighting for the lanes of traffic. It is not uncommon to see five or even six cars trying to get past each other in bumper-to-bumper traffic on a three lane road. This usually involves cars partially on the on-going traffic lane. The white lines on the road are merely suggestions that the Chinese drivers often ignore; the main law that governs traffic is size. Cars will yield to busses, and bicycles yield cars. The drivers in China seem to have less of a sense of space on the road than in America. Cars can just pull out in front of another car with only inches of free space without much care. Each car will try to snake their way ahead of everyone else. Of course there are horns constantly honking, but the drivers seem to tune out the noise. I am fascinated that I have yet to see any accidents.
Today was Andrew’s birthday. As a surprise, we got him a birthday cake and an electronic dictionary as a present. We also had a big bowl or long noodles as a Chinese tradition. The long noodles represent a long life and are eaten during celebrations and holidays. Andrew was very appreciative of his electronic dictionary.
Afterwards, we had a special guest, Hu Jie, come talk to us about his famous documentary, “Searching for Lin Zhao’s Soul.” He was a brave man who sought out the facts about the Cultural Revolution in China. People who try to make such documentaries are in danger of imprisonment and possibly even death. The documentary itself is banned, and can not be distributed. A film festival agreed to show it one year, but the Chinese government canceled the film festival in response. One professor was even tracked down by the Chinese government and imprisoned for showing a class the film.
In this documentary, Hu Jie seeks out what happened to Lin Zhao during the Cultural Revolution. Lin Zhao was imprisoned during the Cultural Revolution and wrote thousands of letters, poems, and criticisms about Mao during her imprisonment. Instead of pens and ink, she used hair pins and her blood to write on her clothes, paper, and the wall. I can’t even imagine writing one word in my own blood, yet alone over a thousand letters. I guess this just shows how passionate and determined she was to express her ideas.
Most of China’s younger generation does not know what really happened during the Cultural Revolution. The government does a good job of retelling history. The textbooks in schools do not mention the bad things about the Cultural Revolution. If one were to tell a 16 year old student about the Cultural Revolution, they may think you are lying to them. It was for this reason, Hu Jie wanted to document the facts and preserve this piece of Chinese History.
I can actually see some parallels to American history. I am sure that our textbooks do not show or represent to what extent of how we treated the Native Americans when we were colonizing North America. I’m sure the average student does not know what exactly happened either. However, I guess some differences are that the North American events happened much longer ago and the atrocities happened to another nation, not one country’s own people.
I also wonder how Mao targeted the younger generation to lead the revolution. Did Mao used pure propaganda to brainwash the impressionable younger generation, or was there more to it? Did Mao capitalize on the younger generation’s craving for something or feelings they lacked due to the social cultural dynamics of Chinese life or family?
- Dominic B.
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