Footprints

Author: Shi Zhenqin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-10-01
Features: Having been a journalist and editor for over twenty years, I have indeed written quite a bit. However, in the early stage, I was caught in the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution, and what I wrote was nothing but clichés, which were not worth keeping. In the middle period, coinciding with the reform and opening-up, when the literary restrictions were gradually lifted, everything I experienced, saw, heard, and thought about was fresh and full of material to write about. However, limited by my writing skills, what remained was only a glimpse, like looking through a narrow tube. Later, by chance, I entered the civil service, and most of what I wrote was for the sake of the occasion, leaving little that was worth keeping. As a result, after careful selection, I have managed to gather over one hundred articles related to journalism that hold some meaning. Looking back at these "self-assured" writings, I can vaguely see a trail of footprints, some deep, some shallow, some straight, some crooked. This small book has no name, so let's call it "Footprints." I hope these footprints will offer some reference for the path ahead. Except for correcting a few errors and changing some repeated titles, the articles included in this book are preserved in their original form as they were published. Readers can not only learn about the news content of that time but also understand the role and style of journalism then. The author's byline is also kept as originally published—some articles are unsigned, some use pseudonyms, and some use real names. In 1968, when I graduated from university, our generation did not have the freedom to choose a career, so the trouble of self-designing our future was spared. Both the author and his classmates were sent to army-run farms for further education by the People's Liberation Army. After a year and a half, the author was "redistributed" to my hometown, the Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province. Coincidentally, the prefecture was holding a "Conference of Model Persons Learning Chairman Mao's Works" and needed someone to compile conference materials. The author was temporarily left to help. In 1972, the Yunnan Daily restored its correspondent stations in various prefectures and cities, and the author was transferred to the newspaper as a reporter stationed in Honghe Prefecture, becoming a professional journalist. From amateur to professional, the number of articles I wrote increased, but the content did not expand much—it was still about class struggle and "grasping revolution while promoting production." At that time, there was no habit of preserving clippings, so once I wrote something, I forgot about it. However, the profession of journalism gave me the opportunity to meet a wide variety of people. Farmers, workers, soldiers, teachers, shop assistants, production team leaders, factory directors, workshop supervisors, and leaders at the prefecture, county, and people's commune levels were all interviewees for the author.