1966-2006-Through Youth-Facing the Black Lens-Story of China 09

Author: He Ming / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: Zhao Liyuan
I will never be able to return to Beijing in this life. I hope my children will understand me when they grow up. After I die, if my ashes can be sent back to Beijing to be with my parents, that will be enough to satisfy me.
Zhao Liyuan, a woman born in Beijing in 1952, graduated from the sixth and eighth grades of Beijing No. 50 Middle School. When the "Up to the Countryside" movement began, Zhao Liyuan, who was originally scheduled to stay in Beijing, came to the Luoyan Brigade of Wanhua Mountain Commune in Yan'an County in early January 1969, at the request of a close friend, with a complex mix of emotions. Due to the poor water quality in the village, many local people suffered from serious illnesses. The relevant authorities in Yan'an County transferred Zhao Liyuan to the Yanhe Brigade of Liulin Commune as a revolutionary youth who had served near Chairman Mao. The following year, during a major adjustment of the educated youth in the county, she was transferred again to the Liushipu Brigade's Liushu Lane Production Team. Although she moved to three different villages in two years, the farm work she did remained largely unchanged. When working in the fields, she always led the women.
By the end of 1972, Yan'an County began recruiting workers. The old party secretary thought she had adapted quickly to her re-education and recommended her for a factory job first. However, within a few days of submitting her application for review, she was rejected. Subsequent recruitment attempts also failed during the political vetting process. She believed it was because of her strong personality and blunt speech, that she had once offended a cadre in the village, which led to her receiving several more years of re-education than others. The repeated failures in finding a job completely shattered her confidence, and she felt that fate had destined her to stay in the countryside for a long time.
To find some support, she made friends with Guo An, a fellow educated youth from Yan'an in the village. From then on, he helped her, cared for her, and protected her. She fell deeply in love with him and married Guo An in early 1974.
In early 1976, Zhao Liyuan was hospitalized due to illness. According to regulations, she should have been sent back to Beijing, but Guo An, to keep the family together, secretly dropped her approved migration certificate for returning to Beijing into the Nanshi Police Station in Yan'an County. She did not return to Beijing and became a married urban unemployed youth, spending her days at home taking care of her children.
By the end of 1978, Yan'an County conducted another recruitment drive, and she was finally hired by the Comprehensive Company and assigned to the department store as a collective-owned salesperson. During this period, she worked diligently and was repeatedly recognized as an advanced worker. Soon after, she became the head of the department store.
In 1986, according to relevant regulations, Beijing educated youth working in collective-owned units were eligible to transfer to public-owned positions. However, the company leadership, citing the reason that collective units could not have public-owned employees, demanded she be transferred. While she was in a state of anxiety, she accidentally injured herself, resulting in a herniated disc and a hospital stay. After recovering, her job had already been taken by someone else. Unable to find a public-owned unit to accept her, she became unemployed once again. Over the next decade, she had no job and no salary. She submitted countless written applications to various departments, requesting work to support herself, but to this day, she has received no resolution and no attention.
Zhao Liyuan said, "My husband has worked in Yanchang County, over a hundred miles away from Yan'an, for many years and rarely comes home. He feels unbalanced because I haven't earned any money in the past ten years. In the past two years, our marital relationship has faced a severe crisis. If he stops giving me living expenses, I won't be able to survive. These years, I have truly tasted what it feels like to be dependent on others." She also said, "In this life, I will never be able to return to Beijing. I hope my children will understand me when they grow up. After I die, if my ashes can be sent back to Beijing to be with my parents, that will be enough to satisfy me."
Interviewed on September 30, 1995, in Yan'an. Revised on May 2, 2006, P61.