漫步人生

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18楼 蕭振于 2020-02-05 03:18:33

After I found a place to sleep on the wooden floor, I approached a small barred window. Outside not far away was the sea. I looked out, a few seagulls flying u-nder the blue sky. I thought bitterly: Ah, man, who is trapping you here? When could you fly freely like a seagull? On the lower left side of the window was a fecal groove inclined toward the outside. A whim came to me: To escape through the fecal groove? A quick visual estimate told me the width of fecal groove mig-ht be too small. It would be awful to get stuck in it. Two meals a day were the same as before: "tan three liang". Haifeng supervisors also were rude. About 10 days later, I was called with a group of six or seven others for transport on t-he same route. We took a long-distance bus to the next station Shantou. Shantou detention center was small. A few days later, six of us were taken on a long di-stance bus and headed to my hometown in Xingning County. I had been away from X-ingning for more than 10 years, and had never expected to return in such embarr-assment! I had only vague memories of the streets we passed, but they appeared to be more broken and more crowded. Someone told me, the detention center was i-n Chen Clan Hall. “Chen Clan Hall?” I still had some recollection, "Is there a big pond in front?" "Filled in long time ago, don’t you see the many huts bu-ilt on it in a jumble?” When I remembered that my former residence was not far from here, a rush of helplessness and disappointment suddenly seized me, and fi-nally bursts of intense fear. The dreaded moment had come. Good or bad luck? It would be decided in a few days! We were taken into the upper hall, where the sh-rine to successive ancestors had been removed,and there was a urine bucket belo-w. On each side of the ground was a row of planks for sleeping. Positions away from the urine bucket were occupied, we could only sleep near the bucket. Sudde-nly I was roused by a supervisor called "Chen Jiang.” I was startled: Ah! To q-uestion me? Before becoming fully awake, I heard a woman calling from far outsi-de the door. I looked out across the courtyard, past the mid-hall, and espied m-y Fourth Aunt. She held a plastic bag in her hand. The supervisor took the bag and motioned her to leave, then brought the bag in and handed it to me. I opene-d the bag and found some cakes and candies, all of which were rarely seen in th-e detention center. I was grateful that my Fourth Aunt worried about my sufferi-ng from hunger in the detention center, and hurried to bring some food. I distr-ibuted two pieces of candies to my cellmates. One who appeared used to wonderin-g from place to place and earn a living by juggling praised me “worldly wis-e”. But I was perplexed how my Fourth Aunt knew of my arrival. If she came to s-ee me not using my fake name and address but my real name, that would cause re l trouble. In addition, what did she said about our relationship? If the superv-isor asked me who she was and where she lived, what would I answer? How could what she said correspond with what I had said? If they followed the wine to get
the melon and discover my identity, then all is lost! But I remembered the supervisor had called me "Chen Jiang”, so Fourth Aunt must have given them my pseudo-nym and false address. She might also give the same address at Rock commune tha-t I had faked before, so I was somewhat relieved. Then I heard a name called. T-he person called was a tall man who looked like an intellectual. He had been wi-th us since at Haifeng and Shantou detention centers. He talked less and did-n’t show a heavy heart like other detainees. A few minutes later he came back, picked up his belongings, waved goodbye and departed.Someone whispered: He was a relative of the director of the detention center I felt disappointed, regrett-ing I had not befriended him and perhaps found a way out. If I were known to th-e director through him, maybe it could have helped me in some kind of mutually beneficial way. Fearful and cranky, I didn't sleep well all night. The next mor-ning, I was called for questioning. My heart beat violently but I forced myself to remain calm as I entered into the small inquiry room. The supervisor was in his forties. He was a little plump but seemed to be kind. He routinely asked my name and address, I answered as previously: Chen Jiang, Rock Commune, XX brigad-e, XX production team. I was worried that he might ask me a few more questions, such as information about Rock Commune or the production team. When I could not answer those, I would be discovered! Fortunately he didn’t doubt anything, or at least did not seem to doubt. Maybe he was familiar with such pretenses and d-id not care if answers were real or false, as long as you were sent to your add-ress and accepted, the other things not being his concern. He told me to pack m-y things and leave immediately. So I had survived one more ordeal. But the most critical one was yet to come. Rock Commune I took my packet and walked uneasily after the supervisor. Noticing that he was wearing just a pair of clogs, I wond-ered why a local official was too poor to buy a pair of shoes. We arrived at th-e bus station ahead of schedule, so the supervisor ordered me to stand and wait as he wanted to use the latrine."Don't run away!" he warned. As I watched the s-upervisor walk to the latrine dozens of meters away, I saw a chance to escape. My heart pounded violently. Looking back at the latrine and checking my surroun-dings, I realized there were few people around. Go? But I was unfamiliar with t-he area so where should I go? As I hesitated, the supervisor started back, look-ed up and saw me, then approached slowly. My opportunity gone, I deeply regrett-ed that I could not act decisively. I felt remorseful although I had done no wr-ong. In such a short time, how could I have slipped out of the supervisor's sight? If the supervisor shouted and the "revolutionary masses" seized me, what mig-ht have happened? Afterwards, I learned that Fourth Aunt and my cousin Yong Yu had arranged for someone to be at the station looking for an opportunity to res-cue me. Unfortunately, the man was not alert and missed his chance to help me m-ake a quick escape. Regardless, the opportunity was gone. I stared blankly at t-he supervisor and followed him to board the bus. Debarking at the Rock Station and on our way to the commune committee, suddenly a young man came up and greet-ed the supervisor. He invited the supervisor to a restaurant for "tea (dim su-m)". I did not recognize the man but realized he must be one of our friends. Unf-ortunately, the supervisor did not accept, even after several requests, but ins-isted on going first to the commune committee. When we arrived at the commune c-ommittee, a middle-aged man said hello to the supervisor. He took a look at the paper and asked:
"Are you Chen Jiang?"
"Yes."
"Yes?"
I was timid and whispered: "Yes."
The man snorted: "Okay, then what’s your wife's name?"
I hadn’t prepared for this beforehand, so had to make up a name. The man was angry: "Absurd! You did fleeing to Hong Kong, how dare you fake a name!" I learned later that the real Chen Jiang was one of his schoolmates in high school. What a misfortune! Was I doomed to die? I was worried that he might hit me, but fort-unately he didn’t and just returned the paper to the supervisor. The superviso-r did nothing but say: "Go back, go back!" I followed the supervisor out. Now I was in a state of mental chaos and darkness, walking mechanically. In complete disarray, on an impulse I fled away to a byroad. The supervisor, certainly not expecting this, chased me wearing his clogs at first. Then taking off the clog-s, he continued chasing and yelling. I was hungry and tired, so could not run fa-r before I was caught. The supervisor held my right arm against my back and tol-d the large crowd gathered that I was a thief. I hurriedly retorted that I simp-ly was one fleeing to Hong Kong. In Guangdong, people had completely different views of thieves and those fleeing to Hong Kong; the former most people hated,
the latter were quite common and many had sympathy for them. I was taken to the bus and escorted back to the detention center quite dejected and despondent. Th-e other detainees were amazed. Learning that I had faked a name and address, th-ey responded with sympathy. Then I was pushed into a small room next to the cou-rtyard for solitary confinement. How to do? What to do? My mind was extremely c-onfused. The fear was so intense that I couldn't calm down enough to think abou-t the next step. I fantasized how I might escape. Novels said to dig a tunnel, but when I touched the floor, I felt a large flagstone. Barehanded, how could I dig? Even if I had tools and could dig a tunnel to another room, it was still i-n the clan hall and not outside. It was simply impossible. Slumping down, I env-isioned the next round of inquiry. How to answer? Kunming was certainly not to be revealed, but what location could I fake? I had been away from my hometown f-or so long that I could not even remember the names of communes or production b-rigades. If I faked another name and address, the authorities would not believe me and would call or send a letter to confirm. The most terrible prospect was t-hat I might be tied and beaten until I confessed, then handcuffed and escorted back to Kunming. There I could foresee upsurges of "revolutionary atmosphere”, charges of "treason”. and a fatal beating by so called "masses dictatorship" a-t a rally. I was too panic-stricken for further thought. The next day brought c-ontinued despair. When my eyes opened early in the morning I was on tenterhooks waiting for my name to be called. Even during the usually enjoyable meal time I was too anxious and preoccupied to eat with relish, just liked a fish out of wa-ter that couldn’t breathe. I didn't know why, but they didn't call me for inqu-iry all day long. Although the inquiry promised to be a major disaster, just wa-iting for it was another torment, like a convict already sentenced to death awa-iting the final moment to come. Snatched from the Jaws of Death - Ruse and Rele-ase Shortly after dinner, I seemed to hear someone calling my real name; "Qing" was clearly heard, but the next word was not like "Si". I was hesitating, the d-oor was opened, two persons appeared, the first one the supervisor, the second behind him, I did not know. The second man came up and called me "Qing X", I st-ill didn't hear it clearly. He extended his hand and I reflexively reached out and held it. The man turned to the supervisor and said; "He is my cousin Zeng Q-ing Hui." This name I heard was somewhat different from mine. It seemed to be h-e name of a cousin. Then I recognized that the visitor was my cousin Yong An. I had not seen him for more than 10 years; he looked like much older and thinner.
Before I could speak, Yong An led me out to the front hall. A small man was wait-ing there, a stranger to me. This man entered a side room with the supervisor, signed a paper, then returned and escorted me and my cousin out of the detentio-n center. Not far away, he said farewell and left. My cousin led me in the oppo-site direction. I was then very much in the dark, only knowing that I was indee-d out of the detention center. That meant freedom, at least freedom of movemen-t. My heart burst with joy. Thank God! I forced a breath out, and then took a de-ep breath in. Although the outside air was not especially clean, after all it w-as not as stifling as in the detention center. We walked silently for awhile; m-y cousin first broke the silence, saying that the man who assisted us was his f-riend, our production brigade public security agent Li Fu. I was told that Four-th Aunt had met with Cousin Yong An recently and told him that Qing Si (me)
went fleeing to Hong Kong but failed. She explained about my fake name Chen Jia-ng, my location at Rock Commune, and that I would soon be sent back to the Xing-ning County detention center. Fourth Aunt requested him to contact Li Fu and tr-ied to get Qing Si out. Yong An and Fourth Aunt remembered Qing Hui who success-fully fled to Hong Kong a couple of months before but had not canceled his regi-stered residence. Qing Hui did odd jobs outside for many years and few people i--n our home village knew him. That provided a golden opportunity to substitute
the name and identity of Qing Hui for Qing Si (me). Yong An found Li Fu and aske-d him to go to thedetention center to carry out the ruse.

19楼 蕭振于 2020-02-05 03:19:41

Qing Hui was a few years younger than I. He was just a child when I left Xingnin-g so I had only a slight recollection of him. Li Fu didn't know me, but he had heard his father talk many times about my father and grandfather taking care hi-s family, so he agreed to help right away. Now it suddenly struck me! Recalling these years, the traditional morality of friendship and benevolence had been re-placed by "class struggle"; mistrust, hate and strife dominated people. I hardl-y expected that fellow villagers would keep nostalgic affection and do their be-st to help me. Mixed feelings seized me, unconsciously my paces slowed. Seeing this, Yong An urged me: "Qing Si, let’s go! Go to the west side of the river t-o eat something, and then go back to the ancestral house, stay at Fourth Aun-t’s home tonight. Fourth Aunt had someone buy a long-distance bus ticket for yo-u back to Guangzhou tomorrow."I didn't feel fully awake, but just followed my c-ousin across the West River Bridge. The bridge! How many times I had walked ove-r it in my childhood, how could it become so broken? The flagstones were cracke-d or missing, the stone railings were collapsed in several places, even the thr-ee big characters “West River Bridge” on the stone board at the middle railin-g were chipped in half. I could not help but feel a thousand regrets: Mao Zedon-g had been ruling for more than a decade, countless people were persecuted or k-illed; even the splendid rivers and mountains were ruined beyond recognition!
-I asked: "Was there not another bridge over there?"
"Collapsed long time ago, it was a wooden bridge!"
"Not to re-build?"
"Who cares?"
We walked into a rice porridge and noodle shop, Yong An ordered two bowls of no dles with shredded pork and a dish of pickled vegetables. He asked me if I woul-d drink some wine, I answered that I don’t drink, so he ordered a small glass of wine for himself. I knew he was poor and regretfully said, "I have no money with me." Yong An replied: "Never mind, I have it." I thought Fourth Aunt must have given him money, so felt at ease to eat. So delicious! I had suffered more than thirty days with "Tan three liang", this bowl of unremarkable noodle with shredded pork seemed to be the best taste in the world! We finished eating quie-tly. It was getting dark as my cousin and I walked along. There were so many qu-estions to ask that I did not know where to begin. The road was not what I had been familiar with in my childhood. Now, along the way, was a disorderly array of cabins or huts; the silent and peaceful countryside scene of the past was en-tirely gone. After walking for about an hour, Yong An said: Here we are. Rest S-top at Ancestral House We stood in the open space behind the ancestral house, a space I now barely recognized. "Where are the cypresses?" I remembered clearly that there had been a row of tall cypresses behind the house, resulting in the property being known as “Under the Cypresses”."All of them were cut to make c-harcoal for massive making steel during the Great Leap Forward.” Yong An repli-ed. What a pity! I recalled that there were several large clumps of bamboo and a big tree (for which I forgot the name) between the row of cypresses and the h-ouse. The kids played and chased around under the green shade. Now the bamboo c-lumps and the tree were cut, and debris and trash were piled everywhere. The an-cestral house was a typical Hakka style "dragon-embraced house" with a wide hor-seshoe shape. There were nearly 100 halls and rooms. It was a traditional clan-inhabited building. Since our first ancestor there, we were the fifth generatio-n. But now the house was ruined and most of its inhabitants scattered far and wi-de. Yong An led me to a window on the right side of the house near the side doo-r and gently knocked twice. Someone inside answered immediately: "Arrived?" I r-ecognized it as the voice of Fourth Aunt. She had been waiting anxiously and ca-me out to meet us right away. She looked much older but was still agile. We had not seen each other for many years and now both had bittersweet feelings. Yong An entrusted me to Fourth Aunt and then said good-bye. Fourth Aunt was among on-ly three families left in the ancestral house. All others were forced to move e-lsewhere and their rooms allotted to poor and lower-middle peasants. Because th-ere might be monitoring eyes and ears around, we were careful not to talk much. Fourth Aunt arranged for me to bathe and led me into a small room to sleep. She said we would go to the town early in the morning and I would take a bus back t-o Guangzhou. Although I had a lot of questions to ask, I was extremely tired
and fell asleep. I had not slept so comfortably for a long time! At five o'clock the next morning, Fourth Aunt awakened me. She had cooked a large bowl of noodl-es which I ate quickly and then followed her toward the town. On the way, Fourt-h Aunt related details of the rescue. Ever since Yonglie had led our group of s-ix to begin fleeing to Hong Kong, my parents and younger siblings were waiting anxiously day after day. Hearing no news, they knew things were not good. We ha-d agreed in advance that, if caught, I would fake the name Chen Jiang, Rock Com-mune XX brigade. My mother hurried to contact Fourth Aunt, requesting her to ma-ke every attempt to rescue me. Fourth Aunt became flustered. Whom should she co-nsult? First she thought of her nephew Yong Yu who had friends with connection-s, but none knew any supervisor of the detention center. However, my relatives p-ersisted. On that day I was escorted to the Rock Commune, someone was waiting a-t the bus station for an opportunity to rescue; and on the road from the Rock B-us Station to the commune committee, a young man invited the supervisor to have "tea" several times. These events were arranged by Yong Yu, but unfortunately f-ailed. Fourth Aunt proceeded cautiously, considering other contacts until final-ly the nephew Yong An came to mind. Yong An was born into a poverty-stricken pe-asant family with many children. My father often helped them. Fourth Aunt had l-ittle previous contact with Yong An but knew he was acquainted with the brigade public security agent Li Fu. She believed this was an opportunity, so she found Yong An and promised him a handsome reward afterwards. Yong An and Fourth Aunt discussed the matter of cousin Qing Hui who fled to Hong Kong successfully a co-uple of months before and had not canceled his registered residence. They belie-ved it was possible to substitute Qing Hui’s name for Qing Si’s, so they went to see if Li fu would assist in this ruse. Li Fu was the son of Li Rike, an hon-est man from a poor family. During the time of the War of Resistance against Ja-panese Aggression my grandfather hired him as the steward of "Huiji (means ‘ki-ndly help’) Granary". My father also provided health care for the Li family ma-ny times, so Li Fu agreed readily to take part in the ruse. Li Fu was a friend of supervisor Cheng of the detention center. He told Cheng that his friend Yong
-An’s cousin Qing Hui was caught back in fleeing to Hong Kong, and faked the na-me "Chen Jiang" at Rock Commune. Li Fu asked Cheng to inform him when "Chen Jia-ng" arrived so he could come to pick him up. Cheng agreed to handle this during his duty on the night shift. Being informed "Chen Jiang arrived" Li Fu found Fo-urth Aunt. Fourth Aunt immediately brought cakes and candies to me. Li Fu told Fourth Aunt that when Cheng came on duty the next night, he and Yong An would g-o to get Qing Si out. In the past, people sent to the detention center would st-ay several days, but recently the number of detainees increased quickly, requir-ing a speed-up of the process. The very next day after I was sent to Rock Commu-ne I almost got into big trouble for my attempted escape. Fortunately, the next night Cheng was on duty, so Li Fu and Yong An came to take me out. "Yong An sai-d that you have already bought the bus ticket to Guangzhou for me. How can you
buy a ticket without a travel certificate?" I asked. "Do you remember A Ding?" I said yes, he was my father’s friend. "He is now the head of pharmacy at XX hos-pital. He is a friend of the ticketing manager of the bus station. He called th-e manager and Yong Yu bought the ticket yesterday." Learning of this twisting a-nd bizarre course of action was just like listening to the Arabian Nights. My m-ind could hardly follow the events. Anyway, that afternoon I returned to Guangz-hou, and was reunited with my parents and other family members. All were awestr-uck. Just yesterday I had been in the detention center like a prisoner waiting to be executed, yet in less than 24 hours came this miraculous reversal of fat-e. The whole family thanked and praised God. We also thanked the ancestors and p-arents who did good deeds to benefit the descendants; and thanked my relatives and friends for their rescue efforts. One-Seventh Success Rate Back to Guangzho-u, I learned that Ho Ping was also caught back. The night we had been chased by the militia, Ho Ping quickly escaped but lost Big Guy. Then traveling alone, th-e next day at midnight he climbed Wutong Mountain and descended before dawn. Wh-en he saw the barbed wire entanglement before him, he became agitated and hasti-ly rushed forward. Unfortunately, he touched the thin trip wire on the ground d-eployed by the border guards. "Ding", the alarm bells rang; immediately came th-e whistle and shouts. Ho Ping was still too far away from the barbed wire entan-glement to rush over it, so he hid behind a nearby rock. Two border guards with a police dog came but did not find him. However, the dog kept barking, so the g-uards released the dog which quickly ran toward Ho Ping. When Ho Ping stood up, the dog bit his left calf. He cried "ouch" and cringed but dared not move. Then
the guards cruelly ordered the dog to chomp hard on his leg. Ho Ping screamed in pain and almost fainted. Ho Ping was escorted to Shenzhen Detention Center. Lik-e me, he also could not reveal his working unit in another province, so he fake-d a name and gave an address in his hometown Xingning County as Xinpo Commune X-X brigade. After being transferred among several detention centers,finally he w-as sent back to Xinpo Commune along with two other fugitives. The commune comm ttee notified the brigades to come to reclaim them. The three of them were line-d up in a row; a brigade member came but did not know Ho Ping. He asked Ho Ping which production team he belonged to. Ho Ping knew that his fake was discovered so he immediately fled. People of the commune and brigade shouted and gave chas-e. Ho Ping went all out to escape. Approaching a wide ditch, he disregarded all risk to make a big jump forward. Not quite reaching the other side, he slipped down the slope. But grabbing shoots of grass, he climbed up quickly and made a
-near miraculous escape. Ho Ping pulled up his pant leg to show me the ugly scar left by the dog bite. He said it was "a memorial that cannot be forgotten.” Re- calling the border guards and the dog had rekindled his hatred of oppression. He then told me a true story that had happened some time before. A well-known m-aster of martial arts in Guangzhou was over 80 years old and kept a workshop to
-teach apprentices and to sell traumatic plaster for a living. Being impacted ma-ny times by the political campaigns, he finally decided to take risks to flee t-o Hong Kong with two apprentices. When they approached the barbed wire entangle- ments of the boundary they were found by border guards. A police dog quickly r-an toward them. The old master knew he must act quickly, so he told the two app-rentices to flee while he turned to confront the dog. The two apprentices rushe-d forward, threw their bags on the barbed wire entanglement and quickly climbed over it. Meanwhile, the dog had pounced on the old master. He reached out with both hands, grabbing the two forelimbs of the dog, and forcefully tore apart th-e dog’s chest and ribs. The old master was sentenced to four years in prison. When this story was widely circulated among the neighborhoods of Guangzhou, the old master became the hero in people’s hearts.Ho Ping said he also would have torn his attack dog apart if he could have fortified his anger with the skills of kung fu. Cousin Yonglie was the only one who succeeded among the seven fugit-ives, but only after putting up a desperate fight. That night, he and another arm fellow approached the Wutong Mountain; unfortunately they were discovered b-y patrolling border guards and militia. They immediately fled in different dire-ctions, but not far enough to avoid capture. Yonglie was totally despair, knowi-ng if he were sent back to the commune, he might be subject to crippling tortur-e or even death. So better to risk dying now, he thought. As they walked along the edge of a cliff, Yonglie suddenly darted away from the militiaman and jumpe-d off the cliff. Fortunately he was not doomed to die, but after being blocked and hung up on branches, finally he fell to the ground and fainted. Even more f-ortunate, his landing spot was across the boundary. Discovered by a British Hon-g Kong patrol car and revived, he was brought to the border police station. A p-oliceman recognized him: "So are you coming again?" Cousin begged him to call h-is eldest sister in Hong Kong immediately. His sister still had a painful memor-y of his previous unsuccessful escape. So she frantically hurried to find a dis-tant relative in the urban police bureau. But he was off work that day. She wen-t to his home, where his wife said he had gone fishing at the seashore. Rushing
-to the shore, she finally found the police officer. Together they hurried to th-e border police station and bailed out her brother. The four farm fellows were taken back to the farm. They were criticized and denounced and then released. F-armers were already at the bottom level of society, so what else they could do them？

20楼 蕭振于 2020-02-08 09:51:40

Back in Guangzhou: Nightmares

After more than a month of torture, I was mentally and physically exhausted and needed a rest. However, would the situation allow me to rest? It was late 1966. A few months before, Beijing had spearheaded the Red Guards campaign.
"Sweep away all cow demons and snake spirits.” In the capital alone, more than 1,700 people were killed in less than a month. Mao Zedong, wearing a military u-niform, welcomed the Red Guards in an audience in Tiananmen Square. This meant that the Red Guard campaign was given top priority. A senior Communist officer Song Renqiong's daughter Song Binbin (means “gentle”) was renamed "Song Yaow-u” (means “be military”) by Mao’s decree. The Red Guards went into action na-tionwide immediately. Mindless and indiscriminate abuse and killing came thick and fast, creating the most absurd, brutal, crazed and bloodiest phase of the “Red Terror”.One of my cousin's nephews, Zhi Wei, returned from Hong Kong to visit his relatives. He said that they also watched the news and documentary of the Cultural Revolution in Hong Kong. "So terrible! Many people doubt whether i-t is true or not. Is it anti-Communist propaganda of Kuomintang? Abusively beat-ing and killing, doesn't the government care?" My goodness! Coming from a socie-ty under the rule of law, how could he imagine the lawless acts launched person-ally by the "Supreme Leader,” and enforced by all levels of government? If not
directed by the authority, whom did the Red Guards know to attack? Whose home t-o raid? Without the authority’s instruction, would the Red Guards be bold as i-f they had eaten leopard’s liver or tiger’s gall,would they dare to beat and kill men recklessly, and create numerous appalling tragedies nationwide? Two da-ys later, Zhi Wei witnessed the police and Red Guards raiding Fang’s home that was opposite his house. Fang had visited relatives in Hong Kong two years ago a-nd came back with a watch she had not declared to customs. She was charged with "smuggling" and put under “masses surveillance”. Fang had just opened her doo-r when she was bludgeoned by a Red Guard with a water pipe. Fang fell to the ground with a scream and blood on her face. Zhi Wei, pale with fright, made a fast
-return to Hong Kong that very evening. A mimeographed pamphlet, "Why did I esca-pe from China?”- an account by the famous violinist Ma Sicong - was circulate-d. It was written: "I was run down by a truck, a bucket of paste poured out on
my head, and then the Red Guards posted slogans on my body. The Red Guards lashe-d me with a belt of iron buckles and hit me in the back of the skull, the blood streamed out; the Red Guards said my surname was Ma (horse), so held down my head and forced me to eat grass.....” J and Y were third grade female students an-d good friends in a junior high school. When the Cultural Revolution began, the-y followed everybody to write Big Character Posters labeling teachers as "cow d-emons and snake spirits”, to criticize and denounce them in school assemblies. They were bustling with excitement and self-importance. Later when “combat tea-ms” were organized, various teams invited J and Y to join. Not knowing the difference among combat teams, they casually join separate teams. Later the various combat teams of schools, organizations and factories in the county joined force-s and formed “XX Headquarters”. But they divided into two factions; one was p-ro the Party Secretary while the other pro the CountyMagistrate. J belonged to the former faction but Y to the latter. The two factions fought each other fier-cely, so J and Y gradually realized that they dare not contact each other. The two factions increased violence, Jiang Qing acting under Mao’s directive, inci-ted "Attack verbally but defense by force”, which became “resorting to violen-ce” and then evolved to mutual slaughter. J and Y were too scared to attend an-y fight, but they still belonged to two opposite factions. One day J’s faction seized the headquarters of Y’s faction and searched the membership list. As a result, Y was caught, suffered a brutal gang rape and was hung stark naked from a tree for public ridicule. That night Y committed suicide. After learning of a-ll this, J hid at home and cried herself half to death.My distant cousin, Chen Mingjing, was a doctor. He was caught by an opposing faction of Red Guards, stu-ffed into a sack, and then beaten to death. My high school teacher Huang Baoxin was declared to be a "label-removed rightist”. His father had been a division commander of the Kuomintang Anti-Japanese Army who rose in revolt at the fronti-er in the civil war but died soon after. When the Cultural Revolution broke ou-t, Mr. Huang was caught and killed at the commune committee after his ear and to
ngue were slashed and his eyes gouged out, all on the charge of simply being th-e "filial son of the Kuomintang reactionary”. My friend Yang Mao told me: On a market day of his commune, in a burst of cries and shouted slogans, several mil-itiamen marched four "cow demons and snake spirits" onto the small hill. In ful-l view of the crowd, the militiamen picked up hoes and cleaved the victims’ fa-ces and heads one by one. The corpses were completely deformed and appalling, t-oo horrible to view. Their families could identify them only by their clothes.
One day, I visited my friend Long and heard this sad story. Long said it was wi-dely discussed in private that two piles of corpses floating from the Mainland appeared on Hong Kong beaches; all were bundled with barbed wire. Among the dea-d were babies and old persons, the scene was horrific.Charities in Hong Kong or-ganized a large-scale memorial ceremony. One of Long’s friends was a zhiqing f-rom a village near the West River (one of the three sources of the Pearl River) who saw drifting corpses up to dozens a day, and reeking to high heaven. To sto-p the bodies from drifting out to Hong Kong and Macao, Mainland authorities ord-ered communes along the West River to retrieve and bury corpses and rewarded fa-rmers with five yuan per corpse. Those drifting out to the sea were but a
-tiny minority.In Guangxi province at a rural assembly, the “cow demons and sna-ke spirits” after being roughed up and tortured, were to be executed. The Part-y branch secretary shouted: "This time I must have a "whip" (male genitalia)!" It turned out that after killing the "cow demons and snake spirits" the executi
oners ate the bodies, saying that they could keep men strong and brave, and the "whip" could promote male sexual prowess. The above-mentioned facts were what I heard myself, and I knew some of the victims. However,the tragedy was nationwid-e. Word of extremely brutal tragedies was heard again and again, the vicious st-ories leaving me on tenterhooks. If I were in Kunming, what would happen to me? Would I be alive or doomed? Every day there were dark clouds overhead and murde-rous risks everywhere; no one could be in peace. Checking my registered residen-ce and Kunming to catch me back could occur at any time. If I were caught back to Kunming, the consequence would be unimaginable. How could I escape the nets
-above and snares below? Seeking New Opportunities to Flee Rumors of persons cau-ght fleeing to Hong Kong and being killed by beatings or stoning continued to m-ake me nervous. Mother was laden with anxieties and said: Wouldn’t it be bette-r to carry on fleeing after waiting for awhile? However, with the situation get-ting more and more sinister, waiting also had grave risks. Dangerous as it was, I had to continue to find a way out. Having failed in walking, I turned to the option of swimming or going by boat. To strengthen my physique, I often hiked -uexiu Mountain or swam in the Pearl River. At that time, day or night, winter or summer, there were many people swimming in the Pearl River. Swimmers claimed th-ey were imitating the "Great Leader" by swimming across the Yangtze River three times. But the real purpose and the tacit understanding was to train for fleein-g to Hong Kong, to practice speed, endurance, and cold tolerance, to be able to survive in cold water for several hours. In addition to swimming, my family and I also considered taking a boat. But this was very difficult and would be very costly. Once, I was swimming underwater in the Pearl River near Ershatou (a sma-ll island) and bumped against another swimmer. We surfaced and apologized to ea-ch other. That is how I first met Donnan. He was a graduate from Southern China Institute of Technology and used to be a factory technician. He was squeezed ou-t by a Party member and then became an electrician in a street service station.
One day, Donnan told me that his cousin in Hong Kong had referred him to a perso-n in Daliang own of Shunde County. He invited me to accompany him. Thinking it might be a promising opportunity, I agreed immediately. Shunde County was renowned for sericulture (silk production) and fish ponds. Many peasants, in addition to tillage, were engaged in these businesses over a span of 100 years, and many people went out to Gungzhou or Hong Kong to do commerce. The folk houses of Dal-iang Town were mostly lofty brick structures, and the lanes were paved with gra-nite flagstones. By this time it had become dilapidated and dreary. The walls o-f some houses had collapsed, the windows and doors broken; some houses were rep-laced by smaller huts, others were littered by debris, the deserted grounds ove
rgrown with weeds. Donnan, a Shundese, told me that much of the formerly valuab-le hardwood like Pontianak used for pillars and beams, and the big hard bricks used for walls and floor, now were removed and sold by jin or by piece. He refl-ected sadly that the world had changed; even the virtuous descendants of those
who once lived here were not able to keep their patrimony. The person to be contacted was Zheng Bijian who shared an ancestral house with his brothers. His family of four lived in one room and half of the lobby, separated from the other half by wooden boards.

21楼 蕭振于 2020-02-08 09:52:33

In the front half there was an archaic square table, on it piled bundles of unfi-nished firecrackers. A wrinkled old woman wearing a pair of black-framed readin-g glasses and working under a dim kerosene lamp, held a bundle of firecrackers with her left hand, and a stick in her right hand to poke at the end of each fi-recracker to press the gunpowder inside. She might earn more than 20 cents a da-y so as to supplement the family income.Zheng asked the old woman to come into the room, then pushed the firecrackers aside and put out a tea set. The three o-f us leaned on the table and whispered.Before long, a man passed by, saw and gr-eeted us: "Jian, guests?" Zheng answered: "My cousins come from Guangzhou." The man came in, Zheng drew a stool for him to sit down and introduced him to us: "My former classmate, A Wu." A Wu was an argumentative guest who had once robbd the place of the host. He asked many questions; we tried to respond courteously but without telling him much. A Wu rambled on spraying his spittle around as he talked: "XX fled to Macao successfully, eleven people squeezed in a boat." Then he glanced at the street and whispered: "The next tide cycle (suitable date and time of going out to the sea) I will go by boat. They allow two more persons to join in. Just to pay a small amount of money, but most important is that he sho-uld have someone in Hong Kong or Macao to help take care of us. I wonder if any-one wants to go." He stared at Donnan and me.Donnan and I forced a smile and sa-id we had never thought of fleeing to Hong Kong.Donnan tried to shake off A Wu. Looking at the old-fashioned clock on the wall he said: "Eleveno’clock alread-y, let’s go have a tea!" Zheng rose and led us out, but A Wu followed. In the r-estaurant, A Wu talked again enticingly in low voice about fleeing to Hong Kon--g: "If someone wants to go, just let me know, but must be quick.”We three look-ed the other way evading the subject.As we left, A Wu again whispered to us: "I-f anyone wants to go, contact me as soon as possible. Eh?" We pretended to hear nothing.On the way back, Zheng warned us: "Be careful with this guy, someone sa-id he is an informer." I wondered with a chill: Did the informer have an eye on me? A week after we had returned to Guangzhou, Donnan told me that Zheng sent h-im a message saying that the fishermen whom we wanted to contact went with anot-her group of people five days ago. So far their families had not yet received a-ny news of their arrival, so it seemed to be fraught with grim possibilities.So a link was broken. A friend invited me to see his Uncle Yue. Uncle used to be a seaman but had been unemployed for a long time. He earned a living by doing odd jobs such as repairing household appliances and plumbing.Uncle Yue told me that he recently became connected to a group for fleeing to Hong Kong by boat, in Lo-ngjiang Town, Shunde County, where the trend of fleeing to Hong Kong was prevai-ling.They found him because he used to be a seaman, and they needed a navigato-r; also they had to fix the broken boat and have someone to pay for it. I asked how much it would cost, but Uncle Yue said he had no idea yet.Late one afternoo-n, Uncle Yue and I took a bus to Longjiang and located our contacts. A dozen pe-ople sat around a table eating hot pot; two plates of raw fish fillets also wer-e on the table. They greeted us and invited us to join them. I knew the Shunde was an endemic area of clonorchiasis (a parasitic disease of the hepatobiliary system). I dared not eat raw fish, so put the fillet into the hot pot to cook w-ell before eating. I asked Uncle Yue and the others to do the same, but the loc-als would not.We started talking about fleeing. It turned out they had a crippl-ed fishing ship, now berthing in the creek.They led us to see the ship. It was a black and rather big one, but badly broken, even the mast was damaged. After returning, they talked jubilantly and dreamed about the future, as if they had arrived in Hong Kong already. They talked with eloquence and no scruples at al-l, whereas I was always edgy; in Guangzhou we could talk fleeing to Hong Kong on-ly secretly.They were local farmers who worked hard all year but eked out only a scanty livelihood. So where to get the extra money to repair the ship? They h-ad to find a partner. They said that after the ship had been repaired, they cou-ld start out on the next tide cycle.I asked how much it would take to repair th-e ship; they listed which parts needed to be repaired or replaced, how much for each part, and how much was the total. The amount was not small; I could not af-ford it, but did not say so, just said we would think about that when we return-ed to Guangzhou. We also put forward a few questions regarding safety, although we had only superficial knowledge about that. Most worrisome was the fact that more than 20 people would join in, and could all keep the secret? But they pled-ged to do so, because all involved were relatives or friends.Back to Guangzhou, Uncle Yue and I carefully discussed some issues. As for the money, it was possi-ble to find someone to share the cost, because they agreed to give one or two m-ore seats.However, in terms of safety, we decided it was too risky. More than 2-0 people, and to repair the ship openly, how could it be kept secret? In additi-on, they knew little about the inspection points on inner rivers or creeks, whe
reas Uncle Yue had experience only after entering the sea. After careful consid
eration, we decided to give it up.Uncle Yue and I thought that if we could find a small boat with the fishermen and passengers totaling no more than six or sev-en people, it would be ideal. Of course, the fishermen should be familiar with the network of rivers in Pearl River Delta and able to avoid or successfully co-pe with the inspection points. However, where to find such an ideal boat? A fri-end introduced Chang Tsai to me. Chang Tsai was a farmer of Guizhou Commune, Sh-unde County, in his forties. A few months ago, he and 10 people successfully fl-ed to Macao in a boat. Macao was small and its job opportunities limited, so mo-st people who fled to Macau just used it as a springboard to flee to Hong Kong. When Chang Tsai and others took a fishing boat to Hong Kong,unfortunately they were intercepted by the patrol boat and sent back to the mainland. As Chang Tsa-i was a poor peasant by class status, he had nothing serious to lose.I invited Chang Tsai to come to Guangzhou. But he said he had just failed in the fleeing and did not want to go for a second time. I tried to persuade him, the main rea-son was that two factions of Red Guards were busy in fighting each other recent-ly, and it was said that the border guards were somewhat distracted. It was a p-ity to let such an opportunity slip away. Chang Tsai’s family had been farming for generations. He was not well educated, but he made a very realistic stateme-nt: "So far as the economy (problem) is not resolved, the fleeing to Hong Kong
will not stop.” As for the border situation, Chang Tsai didn't care much and sa-id: "(Pearl River Delta) rivers and creeks like a net, you guard here, and I ca-n go around by another route.”It seemed that Chang Tsai would be a very good g-uide. After half a month, I invited a friend to accompany me directly to Chang Tsai's home. His home was just beyond the third border zone, so we could buy a bus ticket without a special certificate of travel. Crossing a small bridge to the south was Zhongshan County which belonged to the border zone.Chang Tsai’s home was an old thatched hut; there was a square table with four wooden benches in the front room. It was simple but shabby. He politely asked us to sit down f-or tea and told his wife to prepare lunch. We knew Chang Tsai’s life was hard. Like all local farmers, he ate only pickled vegetables and rice year-round, so I brought a packet of sausage and two bottles of wine for him. Chang Tsai told us that when he returned from Guangzhou last time, he specifically visited a fo-r tuneteller, the blind Wang in next village, and was told "should not travel t-his year.” We understood his decision was firm, so we said goodbye with regre-t. Alas! Looking for a way to flee to Hong Kong was so difficult, failure after failure. I was really exhausted both in mind and body, and money had to be spen-t again and again. Even though I might get some help from abroad, I always was hard put to cope. To continue would be like throwing the money into a bottomles-s pit. What's more, there were always threats of checking the registered reside
nce and Kunming to catch me back; and the vicious news of brutal and bloody kil-ling alarmed me again and again. Day after day, my situation was growing more a-nd more difficult, and my mood more and more depressed. Days wore on like years!

22楼 蕭振于 2020-02-15 01:05:57

Fleeing to Hong Kong: Second Try

My sister in Hong Kong and brother in the United States had been paying close at
tention to my situation. In addition to financial support, they also contacted relatives and friends in Hong Kong to find opportunities for me. Finally, my br-other contacted a friend who fled from Panyu County to Hong Kong a few years ea-rlier, sent him a sum of money and asked him for help. The friend introduced a
man named Li Yong of Dashan Commune, Panyu County, to me. He was the captain of a production brigade. I asked Li Yong to meet me in Guangzhou. Li Yong was in h-is early 30s. He was sturdy, did not talk much, and was easy-going. He said heo
Shiqiao Town, Panyu County. So I went to see Wu and Li Yong at Shiqiao. Wu was about 25, a wiry guy with a rather heroic spirit. He told me that his cousin Su-xia, a fisherman, had a private boat, and had long wanted to flee to Hong Kong. But he had no relatives in Hong Kong, and dared not go on his own. Wu said to m-e, "I have talked Suxia into going with us, and he agreed. But when we arrive i-n Hong Kong, you must take care of us!" I said no problem.We discussed carefull-y the departure time and place, and planned to buy a few hundred pounds of cabb-age to pile on the boat. We would pretend to be farmers crossing the Pearl Rive-r Estuary to the east side in Baoan County to sell vegetables. As soon as we we-re at sea and it turned dark, we would immediately turn the boat south and aim straight for Hong Kong. I told Wu that my younger sister also wanted to go; Wu said no problem, the boat had enough space. I gave money to Wu to buy cabbage a-nd other items.On the appointed day, my sister and I took a bus to Dashan Commu-ne. It was getting dark. Per Yong’s prior instruction, we went out of the stat-ion and walked along the single road on the left. Both of us were so nervous th-at we did not want to talk. As night fell, we worried about getting lost or mis-sing Li Yong. That would be big trouble because we dared not ask directions, le-st our stranger’s accent cause suspicion. We kept going for about half an hou-r, finally saw a lonely hut with a light on the roadside and sugarcane fields on both sides. We guessed it was the right place and walked over to ask. It really was! We were greatly relieved.Li Yong came out to meet us. There were several y-oung persons in the front room chatting. They politely greeted us and let us si-t down. No other family members were seen.At this time, someone came in with tw-o long paddles. Yong took them and leaned them against the wall. I asked mysel-f: How could these things be exposed to others? Fortunately, those young people
didn't say anything and after a while they left. I asked Yong the purpose of th-e two paddles. He said only that they were to be used the next day because the two already on the boat would not be enough. I asked if he were not afraid of t-his gear being seen by others. Yong said no, but did not explain. I still had m-isgivings but hesitated to probe further. Li Yong told us that we would sleep t-here that night. Next day we would have morning tea together at a restaurant in the market town, then board the boat; Wu and Suxia would be there waiting for u-s. I asked if he weren't afraid to board the boat in broad daylight. Yong said no, but again did not explain. I could ask nothing further. That night my young-er sister and I didn't sleep well, but Yong snored without stop. We were awaken-ed in the twilight at four in the morning. Yong led us to a restaurant in town. There were a few diners there already and some greeted Yong. He told them he wa-s going to Guangzhou with his cousin that day. Dim sum was served. I urged my s-ister to eat more, but neither of us was hungry. When Yong had finished, I boug-ht a pack of dim sum and we followed him silently to the river. I suddenly reme-mbered the two extra paddles received the previous night. Yong explained that W-u took them aboard early that morning.Wu and Suxia had been waiting on the ban-k. Suxia was a small fisherman in his early 20s. I handed dim sum to them; they sat on the bank to eat and had a pleasant talk, seemingly unworried. Occasional-ly someone passed by and greeted Yong who explained again that he planned to go to Guangzhou with his cousin.I was on tenterhooks and urged them to get aboard as soon as possible. Yong said, "Don’t worry, nobody cares." Wu smiled and exp-lained: "Here is not the border zone; just like in Shiqiao, no one cares.” I u-nderstood! We had a guilty conscience even if we didn’t steal anything and wer-e worried half to death.Heading Out to Sea Wu and Suxia finished dim sum and ca-lled us to board. Li Yong said he would see us off for some distance and got on the boat. After more than half an hour we paddled into a cove of reeds. The tim-e was still too early so Suxia suggested we rest in the cove for an hour. Li Yo-ng said he would now return home. Wu tried hard to persuade him to go with us. I admired Li Young’s chivalrous behavior and also thought we could use a stron-g laborer like him to help paddle. So I also urged him to go with us, and guara-nteed to take care of him when we arrived in Hong Kong. Li Yong pondered a mome-nt, then relented and promised to go.After about an hour, we again were ready t-o start. Suxia said there might be an inspection during the journey. He asked m-y sister and me to lie down on the bilge under the cabbages that had been broug-ht aboard before we started. The bilge was large enough for two to lie down. In the winter of southern China, lying on the bilge was not easy, but still manage-able.I was worried mostly about inspection. Suxia said not to worry, as he knew where the inspection point was, so we could go around by another creek.The boat advanced slowly. About two hours later, I heard someone shout in the distance, followed by Suxia answering loudly. I didn't know what happened and asked in lo-w voice. Wu said: "Hush! Don't make a sound, someone wants to buy cabbage.” To-o bad! I was speechless with fear. I could hear Suxia bargain with the man but finally fail to reach an agreement. After a while, all returned to silence. The-n Suxia began to speak slowly, saying that he had deliberately made the price a bit too high,doubting that man really wanted to buy cabbage, because militiamen or inspectors often tried that to determine one’s true intention. Fortunately, Suxia was a local with the same dialect, so his response was accepted without s-uspicion. Otherwise, if we were caught even before going out to the sea, all ou-r efforts would be in vain. As the sun set in the west, the boat was rowed into the Pearl River Estuary. Suxia pointed at left front to a small island where th-ree patrol boats were berthed, warning everyone to keep silent. As we kept padd-ling eastbound toward Shajing, Baoan County, everyone was nervous for fear the patrol boats would come over and search.Soon, night seemed to fall suddenly, ev-en us lying in the bilge could see it through the gap of the deck. Li Yong orde-red us to throw all cabbage into the sea right away, turned the bow to the sout-heast,and removed the deck to let my sister and me come out. Looking up at the starry sky and feeling the breeze blowing gently on my face, it was really comf-ortable! In front of us on the vast ocean, the water and sky merged. At the far left front, a faint blue light shone in the night sky. Needless to say, that wa-s our goal, the long coveted free world!Wu and Suxia exclaimed excitedly: "Got it! Got it!" They estimated that it was now a favorable north wind and ebb tid--e, so we could arrive at the Hong Kong coast in about four hours. All of us wer-e excited about our upcoming victory. I considered the near future: After four hours, all the humiliations and disasters would be things of the past. From the-n on, I could breathe freely, how wonderful! Suxia and the others envisioned ge-tting jobs and sending money home, so their families would no longer be so poo-r. They also had long been yearning for overseas remittance certificates; with t-hose their families could buy some high-class goods; after one or two years, th-ey would save up some money and begin a small business such as operating a smal-l stall or something similar. Wu said happily to Li Yong: Definitely it would b-e much better than you being a poor captain of a production brigade. Although n-obody was around in the dark sea, we dared only to talk and laugh in low voice. The four paddlers worked more and more vigorously. As we talked and laughed, su-ddenly the bright lights in front illuminated a motorized sailboat speeding tow-ard us. We were scared and leaned on the boat's side, held our breaths and star-ed at the sailboat. A man on the deck of the sailboat drew a large circle on th-e big sail with a powerful flashlight, and then the sailboat passed quickly not far from our boat on the right side. We were greatly relieved. Suxia told us th-at it was a returning fishing boat. Usually when they encountered a fleeing boa-t, would use a long hook to drag the boat back, and the people on the fishing b-oat could receive a little bonus from the government. However, they didn’t do so, revealing that human nature had not been completely distorted, and there we-re still good people in the world. Success Suddenly Blows Away We were glad, bu-t Li Yong was worried: "It may turn into a south wind!" Everyone asked what tha-t meant. Yong said: “Did the person on the motorized boat draw a big circle wi-th flashlight on the sail? I remember an old seaman in the village had said tha-t the circle meant wind, that is, the man warned us there would be strong wind soon. If it is a south wind, that would be too bad, as we would be pushed bac-k.”Everyone felt immediately heavyhearted. We only wished that warning were not true. Hurry up! If we paddled quickly, hopefully after two hours we could arriv-e in Hong Kong.But before long, the north wind gradually weakened. After a shor-t dull windless period, the dreaded south wind arose, getting stronger and stro-nger. Against the wind and the current, any effort to row was in vain, but we h-ad to try hard to stabilize the boat lest it be wrecked by the gusts of wind. W-e were dismayed to see our boat being blown back. My mind went blank.As the sun rose, the wind gradually abated, allowing us to go south again. However, in bro-ad daylight our lonely boat heading south would tell anyone on shore or in a pa-ssing fishing boat that we were fleeing to Hong Kong. But returning was also wo-uld be dangerous. The militia on the shore or the maritime patrol boat would in-tercept. It might be less risky to continue forward. Just as we started to padd-le again, two boats quickly came out from a river of the east coast. Closing to our boat, one of the crew yelled, "Where are you going?"After a moment of silen-ce, Suxia answered: "Shajing."—A village on the east coast."Where are you fro-m?"

23楼 蕭振于 2020-02-15 01:13:42

Suxia said a name of a fishing village on the west coast. But the militiaman wouldn't believe it.He counted: "One, two, three, four, five, a total of five peopl-e. Must be fleeing, being blown back by the south wind. We’ll go back to the c-ommune and see.” It seemed they knew that the south wind of the previous night would enable them to catch persons fleeing to Hong Kong this morning.Two men ju-mped on our boat, took up the paddles to row back, the two boats one in front a-nd the other behind escorted ours and paddled back toward the bank.All was los-t! Suxia uttered: "Damn the south wind!"A militiaman in our boat blurted out: "W-hy didn’t you just keep paddling along the coast?"That remark struck us! Li Yo-ng and Suxia banged their heads in exasperation at the same time.Why in the wor-ld didn't we think of doing that? Paddling along the coast, with land screening us,would have greatly diminished the wind and improved our odds of success. But it was too late now!The three boats entered the river; after landing, the milit-iamen escorted us to the commune committee in a location they refused to disclo-se. In the commune committee, the militia searched our bags, confiscated our mo-ney, and then escorted us to a bus. Soon we arrived in a detention center.When we learned that this was the Shenzhen Detention Center, we realized that we had come quite close to the waters of Hong Kong last night, perhaps just an hour’s boat ride. "Damn the south wind!" Remorseful that we never thought of paddling along the coast, we suddenly fell back to hell from heaven. Remorse, remorse, r-emorse! Hate, hate, hate!Shenzhen Detention Center was small, and all detainees were persons caught fleeing to Hong Kong. Many were zhiqing from communes or fa-rms in Baoan County or nearby; some had fled and failed several times, entering the detention center again and again. Therefore, they would be detained two or three months as a punishment. But so it was. They said privately that being a h-iqing sent to the countryside was like going to the deepest eighteenth hell, an-d there was no nineteenth level. Once released, it was better to flee yet agai-n.Search and inquiry were routine. Although the supervisors kept stiff faces, th-ey were not rude.According to a zhiqing who had been detained for more than two months, the former head was an exservice northerner. He was ferocious and regar-ded fleeing to Hong Kong as an extraordinary crime, so he always arbitrarily be-at and kicked the detainees. Once when he traveled on official business to Guan-gzhou, he kicked up a fuss and was given some of his own medicine, being beaten badly by several young men at an out of the way place in Huanghuagang Park. The present head was less fierce.We stayed in Shenzhen Detention Center only a few days, and then were sent to Guangzhou. Before our fleeing I had heard that XX F-arm of Shaoguan County was lenient to those fleeing Hong Kong and the Shaoguan Detention Center was not strictly guarded. Many people faked their addresses th-ere and looked for another chance to escape. I had also contacted a friend befo
rehand; his younger brother was an apprentice in a workshop in Shaoguan City. I could ask him for help if necessary, so I faked my name and gave an address in Shaoguan.My younger sister was a zhiqing at a farm of Xinxing County; she did n-ot need to fake a name. Li Yong and the two other men also reported their real addresses.We were escorted aboard a bus to Guangzhou along with other passenger-s. A female passenger put two candies in my sister’s palm; she accepted it sil-ently and responded with grateful eyes.Weird Happenings in Shahe Detention Cent-er The detention center for Guangzhou was located in the northern suburb of Sha-he, a town once renowned for Shahe “fen” (a kind of wide-strip rice noodles).
We entered a large square surrounded by high walls, and then went through a door beside a row of rooms to a smaller square. At one side of the small square was a hall with wooden floor boards for sleeping. The women detainees went into the female area through another door.Shahe Detention Center was very large with man-y detainees in and out daily. Men and women detainees were separated in two div-isions, and each division again divided into two sections, one for newcomers an-d the other for those who already had been questioned and were waiting to be se-nt out.The two sections were separated by a high wall.There always were more th-an one hundred people in the Newcomers' Section, most of them caught fleeing to Hong Kong, others jobless or odd-job migrants and bums from all over the countr-y, as far away as Xinjiang and the northeast China. They were from a different social stratum. Chatting with them I gained a lot of knowledge, and learned for the first time about life at the bottom of the social ladder. Of course, I also heard much about bloody and tragic events of the Cultural Revolution which serv-ed to aggravate my fears. This time I faked a name and address for Shaoguan tha-t was even more unreliable than my last faked name for Xingning. Could I slip b-y once more? If I were sent back to Kunming, the consequences would be miserabl-e. Whenever I thought of this, my heart was full of trepidation.We had our meal-s in the small square. Twice a day, each meal was also three liang rice (so ca-led "tan three liang”) with vegetables, which was dispensed by the two elderly detention aides and monitored by a supervisor.The two old men were in their 60-s. It was said they did not want to be sent back to their residence in countrysi-de because of their bad class status, so would not give their real addresses to the detention center. They were not like people who had criminal records so did not fear being arrested by police and transported. Year after year, the detenti-on center seemed to be their lot. They were friendly, spoke with discretion, an-d seemed to be well educated. Touched, I could picture myself in the same situa-tion. If I dared not reveal my identity I might suffer the same fate, spending the rest of my days as a detention aide in a detention center.Unfortunately, th-ese poor old souls were not left in peace. Soon after I left Shahe, the detenti-on center came under military control. The military representative hung the two old men upside down and beat them until they revealed their true addresses. The-n they were sent away to an unknown fate. It was really chilling.The two superv
isors who monitored dispensing our meals were still young, in their 30s. Before
-each meal, they led us in singling songs of Mao Quotations. The three songs mos-t frequently sung were: "When we are in hard times, we must see our achievement-s, see the bright future, and strengthen our courage.” “Be resolute, fear no sacrifice, and overcome every difficulty to strive for victory.” and the third was "We are from all corners of the country, and for a common revolutionary cau-se we come together........”Everyone sang arrogantly and full of spirit, especially the zhiqing. When they sang the word
"revolutionary" in "for a common revolutionary cause", all burst into shouts and laughter. Joining the revelry, the two supervisors laughed, “Ha, ha!” The zhi-qing were fearless and trumpeted, "Learn and apply creatively." "Hell has no ne-teenth anyway" (It was said that hell has only eighteen levels). In response, w-e whispered: This was "learn and apply in reverse.” "To attack poison with poi-son." Someone told me: "It is said that the two supervisors are also problemati-c and are purged from the prosecution and law-enforcement departments. Aren’t they just showing their resentment?" Those detainees from other provinces were greatly surprised: “In such a place you dare to have fun and to speak cynical remarks, so we really admire you Cantonese. If it were in our place, absolutel they would be arrested as active counterrevolutionaries.”There were many super-visors, but those responsible for inquiry and escorting detainees did not enter the small square where we were.Interior Line Broken Before this detention, I ha-d gotten to know a guard of the Shahe Detention Center named Wang Sheng through friends. Like other guards or supervisors, Wang secretly released detainees to make money. Working with another guard during their night patrol outside the wa-lls, they gave a signal to the appointed detainee and help him climb over the w-all to escape.Arriving at Shahe, I hoped Wang would help me. We arranged previo-usly that I would go to a small empty room on the back wall (said to be for locking up discipline offenders) before each meal.On the third day, Wang walked slo-wly to the window with a heavy heart and whispered to me that the present situa-tion was tense. My heart sank. I wanted to ask more but just then heard the whi-stle blowing for meal. I hurriedly asked that we talk again the next day and ru-shed to the square.Next day at the same time I waited at the window but Wang di-dn’t appear. I waited again daily until the time I was sent to Shaoguan, but d-id not see Wang again. The interior line of communication on which I had placed such hope was broken. Depression and fear plagued me day by day, like the weigh-t of a heavy stone.Riot in the Sending Section One night, I was awakened by a s-eries of heavy bumps mixed with loud noise from the Sending Section. Then, the sounds of a whistle, the clatter of footsteps, shouts, the slaps of sticks, and screams rang out one after another. After a while it gradually fell silent. We couldn't get back to sleep, guessing and whispering among us there must have be-en detainees attempting to break out.At daybreak, the whistle screamed again an-d all went to the square to line up. When the front door opened, the supervisor-s and police escorted a dozen people in to show the crowd. Each person had his
head, or hand, or foot wrapped in bandages oozing blood; some wore slings, other-s were on crutches.All were silent but unable to conceal faces of anger and hat-red.Sure enough, it had been a riot in the Sending Section, the site of detaine-es awaiting transport elsewhere. They had taken building materials stacked by t-he wall to ram the door, but failed to break it open. It was only a few who bum-ped the door, but the supervisors and police rushed in to beat everyone; even t-hose lying on the ground were not spared.They paraded a dozen w-ounded before t-he crowd, whether they had participated in the bumping or not, s-o as to “kill a chicken to frighten the monkeys.” Alas! Lives in troubled times were worthle-ss;who cared about right or wrong? A few days later, I passed a brief inquiry a-nd was transferred to the Sending Section waiting to be sent to Shaoguan. Sending Section was similar to the Newcomers' Section, with a square and a hall,with randomly laid boards on the floor for sleeping. But boards were limited, so man-y detainees could sleep only on the floor. The detainees numbered more than one hundred.One day at noon, a gentle-looking fellow detainee with eye-glasses was tied to a tree in the square. Nobody knew the charge against him. A military un-iformed guard grabbed him by the hair and banged his head hard against the tre-e. The eyeglasses dropped off and he groaned "ah oh, ah oh!"weakly.As a doctor I understood the damage to the brain caused by such treatment, and felt a stingin-g pain in my heart.Transfer to Shaoguan A few days later, I was called by my pe-udonym and sent to Shaoguan. More than a dozen of us including two kids rode a slow train. It was said that the kids’ family had encountered misfortune,leavi-ng them to wander the streets of Guangzhou until they were picked up.There was only one cell for men and one for women in the Shaoguan Detention Center. The m-ale cell was about 30 square meters which, after we came in, held more than 20 people squeezed in like canned sardines. In addition to those fleeing to Hong K-ong, about half were odd job migrants or tramps. Unlike detention centers near the border or in Guangzhou, persons fleeing to Hong Kong in inland detention ce-nters were becoming less and less.Sleeping on my left was a local peasant in hi-s 20s, dark and short. With few jobs available in the countryside, he went to a-bandoned mines and dug residual coal for sale. He might earn up to one yuan a d-ay, but was forced to pay 20 cents to a local villain. He worked hard, always a-fraid that the stones might fall to cause injury or the abandoned mine collapse suddenly. But even more he was afraid of the authorities "sweeping odd-job mig ants”. In that case, he would be detained, sometimes beaten, and his money con-fiscated. I asked him: What will you do after you get out? He answered that he had no choice but to dig coal again or end up penniless. I felt sympathy and co-nfusion for his situation. He was neither a thief nor a robber but simply labor-ing to make a living. Yet even that was not allowed. What was the way of the world?

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