“The film school was located on Hongqiao Road, near the original golf course, and I was able to go home every weekend. Those two teachers also told me that all future graduates would be assigned to work at the Shanghai Film Studio. In fact, the school was a subsidiary of the film studio and they sent many teachers who could see talent to select actors from all over the country. It was very tempting because everyone wanted to stay in Shanghai.”
“But were you happy in your heart to be a film actor or not?” I asked her.
“It doesn’t matter to me. I can do it, it’s not like it’s hard.” That was her usual attitude toward difficulties.
“I know you can succeed, the question is whether you want to pursue this career?” I think this is crucial. A person will only be physically and mentally happy to do it if they love what they do.
“I never think about what I want to do in the future. That’s a fantasy, it doesn’t work. Because I have to obey the assignment of the state. It would be disappointing to me if I had something else in mind for myself. And my friends never think in such a way.” She said, “I am willing to obey my country’s assignment. If I try to do it well, I think I will naturally become interested in it.”
I think she was very sensible to take such an attitude. But if a person is assigned to empty toilets for life, will he be happy with his work effort?
“You’ve decided to apply?” I asked.
“Yes, if you agree. I have been officially informed by two teachers. It was difficult for me to say no to them, either on the pretext that I was not interested in it or else. Besides, I wish I could stay in Shanghai. I am most afraid of leaving you alone at home, and then only once a year to visit your family, or only during the Spring Festival round home for a while.” The daughter said.
“That is, dear child, that is of course the most important thing. I most of all can’t let go of the heart, is afraid that you are divided to work in the field.” I fully agreed with her plan.
Even in China under the Communist Party, literature and art work is still very attractive, but those who work in this field do not have high salaries or better benefits than other workers and teachers of the same age. An actor’s vocation was to create entertainment for the people, so in addition to filming, she had to go on tour to factories, people’s communes, coal mines, oil fields, and so on. It was very hard. But she thinks that these experiences have strengthened her love for the people of her country, and she believes that performing is to serve the people. For her, it was a meaningful life.
At the moment, while swallowing her sandwich, she told me about the whole day at the film studio.
“I wrote a whole day of big letters. It was laid out from above that the more large-print posters one wrote, the higher one’s revolutionary consciousness would be. So people were desperately writing, putting up the whole bulletin board and walls, all over.”
“So you didn’t even come back for dinner.”
“We didn’t even have lunch to show our revolutionary enthusiasm. Everyone was rumbling with hunger, but no one took the lead and left.”
“What did you write?”
“Oh, just slogans. Things like criticism of cattle, ghosts, snakes and gods, and criticism of China’s enemies like Taiwan, Japan, Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union.”
“You know how to write? Have you done any research?”
“Some people did, but I think it was too unsafe. Most of us got our denunciations from the group leaders. I focused on writing the big words of imperialism. It was assigned to me by the group leader because he knew that I was born abroad and knew more about what was going on abroad. I didn’t want to write large-print posters that targeted specific people. I didn’t know the people who were uncovered. I don’t want to write a lot of nonsense, and I don’t want to kiss other people’s asses. Those old actors, old scriptwriters and old directors, all have to go through a review. Many of them have already been uncovered, and they will be dragged out at any time by the movement activists to criticize them, and will be ordered to bend down and kneel under the hot sun.”
“That’s terrible.” I screamed.
“It’s horrible. I really feel bad for them. I heard that most of them were Jiang Qing’s enemies. I heard that Chairman Mao gave Jiang Qing full authority to deal with people and things in the field of literature and art.” My daughter said.
“Hasn’t she already started a revolutionary model play?”
“Yes, she seems to have been at odds with the leadership of the Ministry of Culture for a long time, and I heard people say that when Jiang Qing was a movie star in Shanghai, all the actresses who were more famous than her were ready to roll up and go to labor camps. I heard that she is quite hot and has a small temper. We’d better not talk about her.”
“Of course she can be imposed upon. She’s the first lady of China now, what’s a few old actresses to her?”
“Maybe they know too much about her former private life. People say she had many lovers and husbands before she went to Yan’an and married the President.”
“The President was married several times, so why couldn’t she have had several husbands? She’s a bit like a Hollywood movie star.” I laughed, “You grew up in China. You take this very seriously. Tell me, what about yourself? Do you get criticized?”
“Mom, you’re too silly, I’m not a big shot, I’m just a little soldier. Of course, my family origin and being born abroad are against me. But how lucky that I was born in Australia, not in America or England!”
“Of course no one would say that Australia is a capitalist country.”
“Yes, many people in the factory say that Australia is a British colony and that people are still oppressed there. They don’t know that Australians were originally British, and that the only people there are kangaroos, which are native to the country.” She said and laughed out loud.
After she finished her sandwich, she got up and got ready to go to her room. Suddenly she asked me, “Mom, how did you spend your whole day today?”
“I was informed to go to a criticism meeting to criticize an accounting director of our company. It seems that I also have to participate in the Cultural Revolution. I may be the target of the movement.” I said to her.
“Heh! That’s too scary. Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Man-ping was startled. She sat down again and asked me to tell her the situation one by one in detail, after which she was very worried about me. She asked me, “There’s nothing wrong with your work, right? You haven’t made any mistakes, have you?”
“Of course not.” I told her.
“Why did they only expose the accounting director? Maybe he violated foreign exchange regulations or didn’t pay taxes when he worked for the company?”
“We paid every tax amount, and we were even more careful in complying with the exchange control regulations.”
We were both silent for a moment. We both agreed that any speculation would not help. I urged her to go to bed. We remained silent for a while longer before she said good night to me. As she left, she seemed much more mature than when she first came in.
I turned out the light and opened my eyes in the darkness. I was thinking that the Cultural Revolution was also my daughter’s first political movement, and I wondered what effect it would have on her future. Suddenly, the door to my room was gently pushed open again, and I twisted on the light.
“Mom, I can’t sleep. Can I go down and play the piano for a while?” Manning was standing in the doorway in her pajamas.
“I’ll go down with you.” I said, so I got up and followed her downstairs.
Frosa, Manning’s Persian cat, was lying outside on the lanai, and when she saw us, she meowed and came over. I opened the blinds and Manning went out to carry her into her study. She put Frosa down, opened the lid, played a few scales, turned to me and asked, “What do you want to play?”
“Anything, just not ‘revolutionary songs’.”
She began to play Chopin’s Nocturne, asking me softly as she did so, “Is it good?”
I nodded. With Frosa curled up at Mampin’s feet, it was a warm, peaceful, heavenly picture. But we were already in the midst of an invisible cloud of doom and crisis.
Recent Comments