Then the cook came in and complained to me that he had gone to the food market several times today. All of them failed to buy the dishes needed for the birthday banquet. He recounted that a few of the big secretaries like him in the vegetable market were mocked and ridiculed as the slaves of the rich.
“Probably, because they have no supply and are not happy for you to buy their stuff. Don’t fret, just use the dishes you can buy and I’m sure you can prepare a good table for Man-ping’s birthday party.” I reassured him.
What my cook met in the vegetable market was understandable. It reflected the class hatred aroused in the fight against the bourgeoisie, which for the common people means only “the rich”. But I can’t understand what happened in the temple. Because the temple is managed by the state and the monks are employed by the state. If the government wants to change its policy. Then the government can close the temple and assign the monks to transfer to other sectors, just like the Great Leap Forward just started. In fact, Jing’an Temple is a visiting site open to Southeast Asian Chinese and official foreign guests to show our religious policy. I remember that after the Great Leap Forward, there were newspaper articles about the reopening of Jing’an Temple and the return of all the monks to the temple. I don’t understand why the students are allowed to do this now, and I wonder if the Shanghai government is aware of what is happening at the Jing’an Temple.
At six o’clock in the evening, Li Jing arrived. She had a full head of Chinese hair, a smile on her face, a typical scholarly demeanor, and a clear end of condensation. But only a close friend like me can understand all that lies beneath her seemingly serene appearance. She is very sensitive, sentimental, and can express her joy and sadness in a unique way.
Li Jing is an accomplished musician and a capable teacher. Since ancient times, the Chinese people are accustomed to respect teachers, teachers in society, enjoy a high reputation and status. The Chinese people compare teachers who devote themselves to education to “peach and plum all over the world”, which is a very appropriate phrase for Li Jing. She has taught students all over the country as piano soloists and accompanists, and as piano teachers. Some of them have won prizes in international competitions and become famous overseas. I admire her greatly and appreciate her dedication to music and to her students. Since her return to Shanghai from Hong Kong, we have met frequently. She sometimes brought her sheet music with her, and we spent the whole evening in the sound of music. I knew that she was deeply lonely and concerned about her children. Fortunately, since 1960, when Liu Shaoqi was president of the country, and until the start of the Cultural Revolution at that time, there were no particularly big political fluctuations in China, so Li Jing was able to keep up correspondence with her children in Australia.
As Lao Zhao served iced black tea, I asked Li Jing, “How are things at your school?”
“I don’t think it’s good,” she said worriedly, “school has been completely suspended, and we seem to be spending all our time participating in the Cultural Revolution, and everyone has to write big-character posters. Professors like me, too, have to write self-censorship and watch others write our big-character posters.”
“Do you have a lot of big-character posters?” I asked worriedly.
“Generally speaking professors always have more big words than others. I don’t know if I have more big words than others; I don’t have a count. But so far no criticism meeting has been held against me. My personal history is very clean. I have not done anything other than teach at the school.”
“Were there many critique sessions against the professor?” I asked her.
“There have been a few. One was for past members of the Kuomintang, and another was for hat removal rightists. The rest are from other departments, and I don’t know much about their history. Both of the above people have been pulled out in past political movements.” Li Jing explained, “I’m most afraid of a criticism meeting. For some reason, those people seem to behave very savagely.”
“Do you think you’ll get through it unscathed?”
“I’ve never been anti-Party, and I’ve never asked about politics. I went to England to study after graduating from the National Institute of Music, and then returned to teach at the Institute after returning to China, so the organization knows all about it. I should have no problem, right? But I’m not sure if something unexpected will happen. This campaign seems to be different from the previous ones.”
“How is it different?” I asked her.
“It’s that the attitude of the leaders in this campaign is also different from the past. In the past, they were very confident and sure of themselves in leading the campaign. This time, they themselves seem to be a bit unsure. In fact, they have consciously limited the targets of the seizure, and it seems that they do not want to expand the striking area. I’m afraid that after the failure of the Great Leap Forward, the leaders no longer believe that it is always true that political movements are the driving force for society to move forward.”
Li Jing’s words were profound and wise. But at that time, we did not realize that the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution was essentially a struggle for power between two commanders. Only later did we learn that the first secretary of the party committee of the Conservatory of Music, which belonged to Liu Shaoqi’s line, was killed by a crony belonging to Jiang Qing when he wanted one of her favored youngsters to take his place.
“From my point of view, writing big-character posters is a real labor of love. A lot of paper and ink has been used up in schools. Yet when we asked for more electric lights or musical instruments in the classroom, we were always told there was no funding.” Li Jing said.
“What are you criticized for in the large print?” I asked her.
“Just general criticism of the education I received in England, and of sending my children to Australia, and of my educational methods. When we had friendly relations with the Soviet Union, we were encouraged to teach Western music and to train students for international compositional activities. Since the severance of relations with the Soviet Union, there has been a critique of Western music. We were only able to teach with Chinese scores, but the Chinese repertoire was so small that I spent most of my time on textbook collecting. It was already very difficult to be a professor. Now my students are forced to rise up against me. You know, one of them whispered to me that they had to write big letters exposing the opposition to me, and that they could not protect themselves unless they did so.”
“Really? But you do not have to be too sad, these young people, too, out of helplessness, ah?”
“But I am very sad, I always feel as if my life is over.” She said and sighed.
“Do not sigh for this. During the Great Leap Forward in 1958, students of bourgeois origin in Manping’s school had to criticize their family origins as well. I told her to criticize me further, and she did so. His teachers and classmates praised her. It was just a formality, a show. Don’t you be upset about it.”
“I’m afraid I can’t laugh it off as you did,” said Li Jing, “I think it’s too unrighteous of them.”
“But you’re a member of the CPPCC, so maybe this will be a little more beneficial to you?” I asked her.
“I heard they’re all about to outlaw the organization. They call it the carrot: red on the outside, white on the inside. They say that on the outside these members all embrace the Communist Party, but in fact they are all against it in their bones.” She said.
“Is that really true?”
“Who knows: nowadays there is so much control over people’s thoughts and speech that no one knows what’s in other people’s minds.” Li Jing said.
When I told her that I had also been told to join the Cultural Revolution, her reaction was the same as Vinnie’s. She said. “Now Asean’s Shanghai office is closed, so they think they have to use this political movement to scare you a little so that it will be easy to control you later.” But she did not anticipate that the pressure on me would later be so strong. “It’s not like they can cut your salary because you don’t get a state salary. It’s not like they can fire you because you’re not a government employee. I don’t think they’ll do anything to you other than scare you a little bit.”
“Let’s hope so.” I said.
“You know, I sometimes feel I lack courage and can’t seem to hold it together anymore.” Li Jing said.
“Why don’t you retire? Some people retire before they are sixty, preferring to get less pension, or at least be exempt from politics.”
“When the cultural revolution is over, I will apply for retirement.” Li Jing said.
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