Banished!

Glossary

Excerpts from the Glossary in the Chinese Version of Banished! Banishment, Sometimes Glorious Banishment ft5RrJJJ: Describes a top-down movement. The "top" was the city; the "down" was the village. Banishment to city dwellers meant their being reduced to the level of peasants or even lower, a fall in social status that was deeply demoralizing. While the effect on the banished was largely psychological, there was also, for some cadres, a very real drop in living standards that ultimately led to their deaths. Barefoot Doctors $jjtP~1:: Conjures up images of someone with trouser legs rolled up, carrying a medicine chest, and striding barefoot across the fields, handing out medical treatment to the peasants. In reality, the "profession" of barefoot doctor in the countryside was much sought after for less heroic reasons. Although barefoot doctors were given work points like other peasants, they were either wholly exempted from labor or given a little symbolic light work, depending on local circumstances. This position was such a good deal that everyone wanted to be appointed to the job. Of course, barefoot doctors had to have some elementary first aid knowledge, but only a little. When they were successful in curing minor ailments, it made them very popular. More serious cases were sent to the commune hospital, so it was no concern of the barefoot doctors whether the patients lived or died. Communes, Production Brigades, and Production Teams 0.:fi, A ~A,1::F Where did the banished go? To a production team. Over the team was the production brigade, and over that, the commune. The communes of those years were equivalent to a modern xiang, I the brigades to a village, and the team to a villagers' 1. Small town and its surrounding countryside. [Trans.] 241 group. The banished were of course sent to the most basic level, the production team. The team had just two officials: the head (for example, Mr. Yu in Banished!) and the deputy head. The brigade had a few more officials. It was led by the local Communist Party secretary; then came the deputy secretary, followed by the head and deputy head of the brigade. There was also the militia commander, who was quite powerful. At the commune level, the head was the secretary of the Communist Party Committee , followed by the deputy party secretary, the chair of the Revolutionary Committee (RevComm), and other officials. The Sanyu villagers always addressed these people by their titles: secretary, chairman, accountant, or officer. (Sometimes they addressed outsiders that way out of respect, even if they were none of these things.) Banished cadres had as a matter of principle been removed from their positions within the power structure and were sent to the production teams as ordinary commune members. Cultural Revolution, CultRev2 Jrftje.iJ$ The "Ten-Year CultRev" was an extraordinary episode in the history of China, indeed of the world. It was a harsh yet fantastic period; there was much cruelty, yet it was also an inspirational experience. There were moments of great rejoicing and great sorrow; freedom and despotism both reached new heights. The young revolted, and at the same time the old went mad. It would be true to say that the CultRev had no precedent in history Its complex origins, together with the confusion it created and the lack of reference materials that would allow for a proper assessment, make it virtually impossible to explain the CultRev in the limited space available. 516 Ii-/\ One of the countless mass organizations that sprang up during the CultRev, 516-or rather 5. 16-was named after the Communist Party Central Committee directive of May 16, but, shortly after its appearance it was condemned to the eighteenth level of hell as a counterrevolutionary plot. The movement did not 2. The word commonly translated as "culture/cultural" [)Cit] needs explanation since it has a broader meaning, encompassing additional notions of "civilization! civilized" and "education!educated." [Trans.] 242 Glossary spread over the whole of China. In fact, because it was banned so soon after coming into being, its influence was extremely limited. But that did not stop the crackdown on 516 from being both extremely harsh and widespread. As a result, large numbers of people who may never even have heard of 516 were mercilessly attacked as "516 elements," making this crackdown one of the biggest injustices of the CultRev period. Loyalty Dance }~,'¥n A group dance, common during the...