WILD SWANS - THREE DAUGHTERS OF CHINA UITREKKSELS UIT DIE BOEK: Bl.162: One of the first acts of the new government was to put up posters announcing its policies:release of all prisoners;the closesure of all pawnshops - pawned goods could be recovered free of charge;brothels were to be closed and prostitutes given six months'allowance by their owners;all grain stores were to be opened and the grain distributed to those most in need;all property belonging to Japanese and collaborators was to be confiscated;and Chinese-owned industry and commerce was to be protected. Bl.164.: The main thrust of the Communists'policy was to reduce the rent and interest on loans the peasants had to pay to the landlords.They also confiscated grain and clothing from landlords and distributed them to the poor peasants. (Toon dit 'n ooreenkoms met die motorskakings, inbrake, diefstalle,ens.) Bl.166: (1947) The Chayong government sentenced Jin to death by shooting,but the family of the man who had been burned to death,with the support of the family of other victims,determined to kil him the same way.As the flames began to lick around his body Jin clenched his teeth,and did not utter even a moan until the moment the fire surrounded his heart.The Communist officials sent to carry out the execution did not prevent the villagers from doing this. Although the Communists were opposed to torture in theory and on principle,officials were told that they should not intervene if the peasants wished to vent their anger in passionate acts of revenge. People such as Jin were not just wealthy owners of land,but had wielded absolute and arbituary power,which they indulged wilfully,over the lives of the local population.They were called e-ba( "ferocious despots") In some areas the killing extended to ordinary landlords,who were called 'stones' - obstacles to the revolution. Policy towards the 'Stones' was: 'When in doubt, kill' Bl.167 When she had first seen the "wanted" posters and heard about this dangerous 'bandit' from her relatives,my mother could tell that they admired as well as feared him.Now she was not a bit dissapointed that the legendary guerilla did not look at all warriorlike." Bl170: .....in line with the new Communist moral code,which,in a radical departure from the past,enjoined that men and woman should be equal...... After hearing each others frank account of their past lives,my father said he was going to write to the Jinzhou City Party Committee asking for permission to 'talk about love' with my mother,with a view to marriage.This was the obligatory procedure.My mother supposed it was like asking permission from the head of the family,and in fact that is exactly what it was:the Communist Party was the new patriarch. Bl.172 Womans'Federation...which dealt with women's affairs:it supervised the freeing of concubines and shutting down brothels,mobilized women to make shoes for the army,organized their education and their employment,informed them of their rights,and helped ensure that woman were not entering into marriages against their wishes. Bl.175. Hui-ge was not regarded as an ordinary prisoner of war. Because of his family's influence in Jinzhou,he fell into the category of 'snakes in their old haunts,'meaning established powerful local figures.They were especially dangerous for the communists because they commanded loyalty from the local population,and their anti-Communist inclinations posed a threat to the new regime." Bl.179 The communist had embarked on a radical reorganization not just of institutions,but of people's lives,especially the lives of those who had 'joined the revolution.'The idea was that everything personal was political;in fact,henceforth nothing was suppose to be regarded as 'personal' or private.Pettiness was validated by being labeled 'political',and meetings became the forum by which Communists channeled all sorts of personal animosities. (waarheidskommissie....) My father had to make a verbal self-criticism,and my mother a written one. Bl.182. Her sense of being caught up in impossible dilemmas was heightened by what was happening to several of her relatives and many people close to her.When the Communists arrived,they had announced that anybody who had worked for the Kuomintang intelligence had to report to them at once. Her uncle Yu-lin had never worked in intelligence but he had an intelligence card,and felt he should report to the new authorities....he felt to tell the truth.He was in a difficult situation.If he had not turned himself in and the Communists had discovered the facts about him,which was highly likely,given their formidable organization,he would have been in dire trouble.But by coming forward,he himself had given them grounds to suspect him. The Party's verdict was:'Has a political blemish in his past.No punishment,but can only be employed under control'. This verdict,like almost all others,was not delivered by a court,but by a Party body.There was no clear definition of what it meant,but as a result of it,for three decades Yu-lin life would depend on the political climate and on his Party bosses.In those days Jinzhou had relatively relaxed City Party Committee,and he was allowed to go on helping Dr.Xia in the shop. My grandmother's brother-in-law, 'Loyalty' Pei-o,was exiled to the country to do manual labor.Because he had no blood on his hands,he was given sentence called 'under surveillence.' Instead of being improsoned,this meant being guarded (just as effectively) in society. When they finished their term of formal surveillance they would join people like Yu-lin in a looser category of 'quiet' surveillence.One common form of this was the 'sandwich'- being kept under close watch by two neighbors who had been specifically assigned this task,often called 'two reds sandwiching a black.' The 'people's justice' was watertight,and was a central instrument of rule because it enlisted so many citizens in active collusion with the state. Mense wat bruikbaar was,was nie vervolg nie. Bl.184. The Communists also spared big shots like the 'last emperor,'Pu Yi,and top generals - because they were 'useful' Mao's state policy was:"we kill small Chiang Kai-sheks.We don't kill big Chiang Kai-sheks.' Keeping people like Pu Yi alive,he reasoned,would be 'well received abroad'. Bl.188 He told her that she must be strong,and that as a young student 'joining the revolution,she need to go through the five mountain passes'- which meant adopting a complete new attitude to family,profession,love,life-style,and manual labour,through embracing hardship and trauma. The party's theory was that educated people like her needed to stop being 'bourgeois' and become closer to peasants,who formed over 80 percent of the population. Bl.215. He was travelling around the country most of the time,investigating conditions in the rural areas,hearing the peasants'complaints,and dealing with every kind of problem,particularly ensuring the food supply. Landreform. Bl.221. Immediately after this,land reform started in the Yibin area.The Communists had passed an agrarian reform law that summer,which was the key to their program for transporming China.The basic concept,which they called 'the land returning home,' was to redistribute all farmland,as well as draft animals and houses,so that every farmer owned a more or less equal amount of land. Chinese saying: "When a man gets power,even his chickens and dogs rise to heaven." Bl.647 China is a developing country,'they would intone,'and will stand forever by the side of the oppressed and exploited masses in the third world in their struggle against the American imperialists and the soviet revisionists." The blacks would look baffled but touched.Sometimes they embraced the Chinese men,who returned comradely hugs. Bl.659 The other hallmark of Maoism,it seemed to me,was the reign of ignorance.Because of his calculation that the cultured class were an easy target for a population that was largely illiterate,because of his own deep resentment of formal education and the educated,because of his megalomania,which led to his scorn for the figures of Chinese culture,and because of his contempt for the areas of Chinese civilization that he did not understand,such as architecture,art,and music,Mao destroyed much of the country's cultural heritage.He left behind not only a brutalized nation,but also an ugly land with little of its past glory remaining or appreciated.