The Years of an Educated Youth in Inner Mongolia

The Educated Youths Sent to the Countryside Movement refers to the political campaign that took place from the 1950s to the late 1970s. After Chairman Mao called on educated young people to go to the countryside and receive reeducation from poor and lower-middle peasants, saying it was very necessary, vast numbers of urban youths left the cities to settle and work in the countryside. This was known as “joining a production team and settling in the countryside,” and was intended to help them gain practical experience. My maternal grandfather was no exception. As a highly educated intellectual of his time, he answered the nation's call and took part in the movement sending educated youths to the countryside. Even after returning to the city, he was meticulous in his work and accomplished a great deal. Now in his seventies, he often thinks back on his experiences as an educated youth. So he decided to write a memoir and asked me to help him publish it. The old gentleman has always been a serious person, and the stories in the book are all things he experienced himself. People say that the elderly are like thick books. When you are willing to open one, you'll find it more vivid than any other book or record, because they, too, were once bright banners flowing through the river of history.