Dear Comrades and Fellow Reporters,

As I take a moment to write this farewell message memories come rushing back connecting my life as a farmer, with the journey that brought me into the world of journalism. China, our homeland has undergone changes from the tumultuous 1930s to the recent conclusion of the Cultural Revolution. These past years have been filled with upheaval and resilience. We have sailed through times in Yenan reported on Land Reform and observed the passion of the Great Leap. Now as we say goodbye to our role as keepers of history it becomes our duty to capture and document the essence of this period that has shaped our nation. I stand united with you in mourning for our Chairman Mao while finding solace in putting an end to the chaos caused by the Gang of Four.

Now as we pass on this responsibility to a generation there is one task, at hand. Uncovering and presenting layers upon layers of insight into the Cultural Revolution for our readers. During this pursuit Liang Heng, the son of the Liang Shan graciously shared a manuscript that chronicles his familys experiences during that time. I was deeply moved by Liang Hengs memoir titled “Son of the Revolution” which provided an poignant account of those times. As I delved into Liang Heng’s memoir “Son of the Revolution ” there was a passage, on page 82 that caught my attention. It beautifully captures the essence of the Cultural Revolution revealing its fervor and chaotic nature; “We all had to be revolutionaries tearing down the world demolishing the values and completely transforming ourselves from head to toe.” This quote vividly portrays the ideology that fueled the Cultural Revolution. It represents a determination to erase the past establish an order and conform to the prevailing beliefs of that time. The relentless pursuit of change even if it meant dismantling standing traditions and historical legacies was a fundamental principle, during that turbulent era. To truly grasp the nature of the Cultural Revolution it is crucial to understand the meaning behind this quote and to acknowledge the diverse experiences shared by individuals, like Liang Heng. It encompasses their struggles, sacrifices and deep yearning for autonomy amidst an overwhelming wave of ideological fervor.

As we take a moment to reflect on our roles, as storytellers and hand over the responsibility to a generation of journalists it becomes crucial for them to truly understand the core of our history. By delving into memoirs like Liang Hengs and other narratives they have the opportunity to untangle the intricacies of our past and pave the way for a future, in our China.

 

It has been my pleasure.

 

Yours Truly,

Zeng Yongzheng

Hello Comrades,

I hope, as always, you are staying safe and being a loyal revolutionary. Over the past decades, I fear I have not been the perfect Chinese citizen, and I fear Chairman Mao would be disappointed in me. As some of you may not know, I have been blessed with a child who is in perfect health. Whenever he gets out of line and misbehaves, I tell him how “Chairman Mao would be disappointed” in him. Just the other night, when he was misbehaving, I told him how Mao would be disappointed in him, and then it dawned on me: would Chairman Mao be disappointed in me? It didn’t take long before I realized that Mao would, in fact, be disappointed in me using my position as a journalist to discuss matters that I had no business discussing. Comrades, the realization that my beloved Mao would be disappointed in me hit me like a truck and shocked me to my core. In my last blog post, I may have inadvertently hinted that I believed policies made by Chairman Mao were the cause of the great famine we experienced rather than the unforeseen natural disasters, which were the actual cause of the death and despair we experienced. During the years of famine, I fear that I was angry that my family in the countryside was starving, and I let this anger cloud my judgment. Since I have realized my wrongdoings, I have gone back and reread the Little Red Book over and over again. When Mao said, “If we have shortcomings, we are not afraid to have them pointed out and criticized because we serve the people” (LRB 122), I felt he was speaking directly to me. Ignoring my mistake would be wrong, and through the words of Mao, I have found that I must realign myself with the savior of our nation, Chairman Mao, through further studying of his work as well as searching for those in our country who are counterrevolutionary. Through studying Mao, I feel a weight has been lifted off my shoulders, and I can serve my party in a new way: weeding out those who don’t honestly believe in everything Chairman Mao has done for us.

Until next time, 

Zeng Yongzheng

It becomes clear as we delve more into this terrible time in China’s history that a number of things have come together to cause this great catastrophe. Why have some areas been plagued with so much bloodshed, death, and misery my editor asked me to respond to this, asking, why and what went wrong? 

The Great Leap Forward’s errors were caused by irrational ideology, bad policy decisions, and unavoidable catastrophes.

The philosophy of collectivization, in which peasants were grouped into communes and extensive farming was practiced, was at the heart of the Great Leap Forward. Theoretically, this would result in a surplus of goods and higher agricultural output. The reality of this utopian approach, however, quickly became a breakdown in the social structure of rural communities resulting from this, in addition to food shortages.

A leadership system that suppressed dissent and discouraged critical thinking made the problem worse. It was challenging to evaluate and fix the mistakes under Chairman Mao’s administration because officials who dared to voice their opposition to the programs were frequently branded as enemies of the state.

The issues were significantly made worse by the tense political climate of the day. Local officials overstated production numbers to their superiors in an effort to demonstrate their allegiance to the Communist Party. Making judgments based on facts was impossible due to the misleading information at all levels of government. Because of this, the central leadership frequently operated in the dark and was ignorant of the grim situation on the ground.

Adding to the calamity we­re natural disasters, such as droughts and floods. These­ events further straine­d China’s already fragile food production, exace­rbating the dire situation. The subse­quent Great Famine inflicte­d immense suffering on millions of pe­ople, particularly in the countryside whe­re its impact was most devastating.

The suffe­ring experience­d by many people was worsene­d due to certain policies, like­ the backyard steel furnace­ campaign. This initiative diverted labor away from agriculture­ and towards producing low-quality steel. Unfortunately, this misguide­d focus resulted in a deple­tion of the workforce nee­ded for farming, ultimately contributing to the crisis at hand.  

This e­ra has been marred by violence and de­ath, which can be traced back to the ruthle­ss methods employed in e­nforcing the policies. Local officials, burdene­d with meeting unattainable production goals, re­sorted to seizing grains and eve­n food from households, plunging countless individuals into misery. Tragically, these actions sometimes sparke­d violent clashes betwe­en the state and de­sperate citizens.

 

As always, stay safe…

Zeng Yongzheng

My loyal readers,

It has been a while since I last wrote to all of you and I am sorry about that. A lot has happened since Yanan and I am excited to write about it. When I wrote last, the Chinese Communist Party was held up in Yanan creating a sanctuary for all those who supported the party. Since then the Chinese Communist Party has grabbed the reins and is in full control of China. Even though the Chinese Communist Party is now in full control of China, it did not come easy. After a long bloody war with the Nationalists, Chairman Mao and his followers came out on top. One of the first policies they implemented was the land reform which has completely reshaped rural China. This whole land reform campaign is the exact reason why I have written in a while. As you know, my family lives in a rural farming village with very little land. A couple of months ago the land reform campaign touched down in my home village and I traveled home to help my father with the whole reshaping process. 

What is land reform you may ask? Well, in short, rural China has been ruled by landlords for hundreds of years. This has left a vast majority of the country poor while very few enjoy the benefits of owning and renting the land. The land reform campaign aimed to solve this problem. The campaign empowered the poor peasant farmers to rise up and take the land to divide up amongst themselves. Through the help of work teams, which were largely comprised of intellectuals from the cities [DeMare, 6], the peasant class was completely transformed and able to acquire more land to farm which in turn created more equal living situations. What was very impressive about this whole situation was that the opportunity was seized by the peasant farmers. The government put together these work teams but it was the peasants who worked with these intellectuals and overthrew the landlords. It was by “both creating class consciousness and altering village power relations, struggle held the key to what the Communists called fanshen: the liberation of the peasantry that followed in the wake of land reform” [DeMare 147]. While attending a meeting with the work teams back home, I witnessed a female peasant “denouncing and struggling village landlords” [DeMare, 148] in front of the entire village, which was a very revolutionary sight. While berating the landlord I saw an immense amount of hatred coming from this woman. After the meeting, I spoke to some members of the work team and they discussed the importance of this hatred and how Mao intended for them to rise up out of hate [DeMare 148]. This was all very interesting to see firsthand. I have even come to hear reports of landlords being killed violently by villagers. This violent overthrow of landlords seems to be happening more and more often. Even though we are no longer at war with a foreign enemy, it now seems like we are at war with ourselves.

Like always, stay safe! 

Until next time, 

Zeng Yongzheng

My loyal readers,

 

Over the past few weeks, I have been praying that you are all alive and well. China has been attacked by the ruthless Japanese and after seeing the aftermath of what they did to Nanjing, my heart broke. I fear for my life as well as the people of China. Despite my fear, I have taken a huge risk. My publisher assigned me the task to “investigate and try to determine why so many people from all over China and from many different backgrounds are flocking to Yenan to live in that desolate, poor corner of China.  What is it about life in Yenan/Yan’an that so many find so appealing?” At first, I thought she was crazy and that there was no way I would travel all the way to Yenan, especially during times like this. I then began to think about my readers as well as the promise I made to myself to report on what is going on in our country. So…against my best judgment, I traveled to Yanan.

 

On my way to Yenan, I was able to get my hands on an interview with Mao done by an American journalist by the name of Edgar Snow. Snow’s interview with Mao has given me greater insight into who exactly Chairman Mao was and why so many people followed him across the country to Yanan. After his interview, Snow said that “the influence of Mao Zedong throughout the Communist world of China was probably greater than that of anyone else” [Cheek, 185]. Snow believed that it was Mao’s personality that played a role in his rise to great influence in Communist China. Snow said that “the role of his personality in the movement was clearly immense” [Cheek, 186]. It was who Mao was that attracted people and not just what he stood for. But was Mao just another pretty face that could attract people to his cause because of his personality or was he attuned with what was needed to prevail? In the words of Thucydides, “the society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting by fools,” but as it turns out Mao is driven to succeed and help the people of China. Snow commented that he is an “accomplished scholar of classical Chinese, an omnivorous reader, a deep student of philosophy and history, a good speaker, […] a man of tireless energy, and a military and political strategist of considerable genius” [Cheek, 185]. So after reading this interview and learning about Chairman Mao, I can begin to understand why people are flocking to Yanan to be around this great man. When I arrived in Yenan I was surprised to see what it was really like. Rich and poor alike live in the same conditions. Wealth and status have been washed away. Although I didn’t see Mao when I was there I heard that he lives in a cave with a paper wall, the same as everyone else. Despite the “poor” conditions, the people are all in high spirits and do what they can to help each other out.

 

In Yenan wealth, status, and where you are from don’t matter. Everyone is treated the same from the top down. And with the leadership of Chairman Mao, everyone is happy to be in Yenan.

 

Until next time,

ZENG YONGZHENG

Dear my fellow readers,

I am sorry to have kept you waiting so long since my introduction blog. Over the past two weeks, I have been traveling and interviewing as many people as I can to get a better understanding of what people are looking for in China today. Through my research and keeping my ear to the ground I have come to the conclusion that the Chinese Communist Party is what is needed in order to bring China from this disheveled state that we are in now and into the future. After talking with many women in both the countryside and right here in Beijing, I can begin to understand why so many people believe the CCP is what China needs. 

Just the other day I was given the opportunity to speak with a Chinese Communist Party woman who was in jail for being a part of the revolution. She was telling me how a Nationalist official wanted to buy her a piece of property and take her to be his concubine. (A concubine, for those who don’t know, is a woman who sleeps with a man and lives with him but essentially has a lower status than that of his wife.) Despite her protesting, this CCP member was threatened and told that if she did not comply, the Nationalists would put a firecracker inside of her and light it. (A terrifying thought) Another girl who was being held hostage by the Nationalists was tortured just last week. She told me that the Nationalists took a hot wire and shoved it through her leg. She then proceeded to show me the wound and tell me that shoving the wire through her leg was just the beginning of her tortured experience. She was later hung up by her arms and tortured for another 7 hours and threatened with being raped by a platoon of soldiers. 

These brave women are being tortured, humiliated, and killed because they are fighting for the Chinese Communist Party. They told me that it was either joining the CCP and fighting for a better life or being forced into a marriage they didn’t want, with a man who she didn’t love, and for money that she would never see. The rights and way these women have been treated over the course of our great empire make it no surprise that they are calling for a revolution and risking their lives in the name of freedom. Mao offers a unique opportunity for these women to become land owners, gain equal pay for equal work, and flourish in a new communist China. So, my fellow readers, it is no surprise that the communist revolution is starting to look like the best thing for China.

 

Until next time…

-Zeng Yongzheng

Welcome to my blog! My name is Zeng Yongzheng and I am 20 years old today! I was born to a modest family in a small rural village by the name of Xinghua. My family is very close and I am struggling being away from them. Back in Xinghua, I lived with my lovely mother, father, and my two grandparents who are too old to live by themselves. Xinghua is a farming village where we work from sun up to sun down trying to make ends meet. It was very demanding work and education opportunities were incredibly limited. Luckily my father thought education was very important for a young man like me, so my father made incredible sacrifices in order to provide me with the opportunity to attend local schools.

After discovering my love for writing, I took a huge leap of faith and embarked on a tough journey to become a writer while enrolled in university in the daunting big city of Beijing. Life in the big city was a scary change of pace from my quiet humble beginnings of working in the fields. The massive amounts of people and activities has been overwhelming yet exciting. The only thing that is important to me is making my father proud and taking advantage of the opportunities he has given me.

You may ask yourself, “hey Zeng Yongzheng, why leave your family behind and attempt to create a career in journalism during such a dangerous time in our country?” Honestly, to that question I will tell you that I am still attempting to find that answer out for myself. I guess the biggest thing to me is making my family proud and representing those impoverished families who have no voice for themselves (like my own). In our nation, we are undergoing massive political and social changes with the leadership of Mao. My background as the son of a farmer who has begun to experience the life in the big city and university, I believe I can offer a unique opportunity to help bridge the gap between the ones on the country side and the ones walking the streets of cities like Beijing. I hope to be a voice for the ordinary Chinese man who wants change.

I hope that you can follow along with my journey as I attempt to report on what is truly going on in our country!

See you next time,

Zeng Yongzheng