Baptism by Yang Jiang

Preface to the First Edition

This novel describes how intellectuals faced the first wave of ideological reform after Liberation, “The Three Anti Campaign.” It was also called “Pull down the pants and cut off the tail.” These intellectuals had delicate ears and weren’t used to hearing about “pulling down pants,” so instead the name was changed to “washing,” rather like what Westerners call “brainwashing.” In order to show how the intellectuals were reformed, I must first describe what they were like before reformation. What did they change from? Why did they have to be changed? And were they really changed, or not? I once saw a traditionally bound, woodblock-printed book with illustrations. The pictures showed many immaculately dressed people dragging long, hairy tails as they mingled with others. Perhaps mortal eyes couldn’t see the tails, so others seemed not to notice them. Whenever I thought of the movement to “pull down the pants, cut off the tails,” those tailbearing people came to mind. If the tails grew only out of education or ideology, then it should be possible to wash them off. But if they grew on people’s bodies, they were joined to the spine and the skin. Even with the harshest chemicals, can you really wash off a tail? Of course, if you are going to wash in public you have to take your clothes off in public, but the tail will not necessarily be visible to everyone. No one will know whose tail got washed or cut off, or even who had one in the first place. The organizations and place names in the novel are all pure fiction, but the characters and plot have been modeled after life. I have collected some commonly seen features, skin, hair, teeth, Preface to the First Edition nails, and beards, and even tails. But I have not arbitrarily used anything that can be found “only at this shop, beware of imitations.” Hence this disclaimer. Yang Jiang November 9, 1987 Preface to the first edition xv ...