Ten Years of Toil: My Green Youth

Author: Qingqiu Zi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: This is a bitter memory, an unforgettable piece of history. In the long-gone gray era, millions of vibrant young people threw their youth into the dilapidated and hopeless countryside. They didn’t know what their future held, nor their precise social position. This was the "sent-down youth." From today’s perspective, the label "sent-down youth" imposed upon them is highly questionable. Because they had barely completed primary school before their education was cut short. It was as if they had just gained basic literacy—how could there be any "knowledge"? They were simply a group of innocent teenagers. They possessed the same mischief, rebellion, and inquisitive spirit as today’s "post-80s." However, the dust of time was too thick, completely burying them. The so-called "sent-down youth literature" of the past merely dramatized a pseudo-idealistic concept, while the truth of history was easily obscured. This article, written in a certain style, depicts the real fates of a group of young people from back then as they faced the brink of life’s despair. When city junior high school graduates with little education arrived in the mountains of Donghua, Northeast China, with curiosity, what awaited them were wolves in the snow, suspicious signal flares in the dark, and the discrimination and mocking of the local farmers. Such youth—would there still be laughter? Would there still be tomorrow? Such innocent young people—would they grow or be destroyed in the end? Such questions had already taken root in their hearts back then. The work uses light-hearted and humorous language to effortlessly portray a harrowing history that overturned the fate of an entire generation, a poignant "black comedy." It makes readers laugh through tears and smile through tears.