Interview with Zhang Jiuping

Zhang Jiuping (b. 1957) is a resident of Shaziying Village, Yang Town, Shunyi District, Beijing. In this interview, Zhang talks about her lifelong hardship. Categorized as rich peasant and landlord, Zhang's family suffered a lot. Her mom had to take care of four kids while her dad worked at a factory in Beijing. Because of poverty, Zhang had to quit school in the second grade to take care of her younger sisters. At the age of 13, Zhang replaced her mom and went to work in the production team with her elder brother while making mats in the evening for extra money. When working at the Jinji River in 1977, her brother developed mental illness. After sparing no effort to help him get cured and get married, Zhang herself was eventually able to get married with the boyfriend she had dated for years. In 1984 when Zhang was pregnant with her son, the one-child policy started to be strictly carried out in the countryside. To hide from people from the government, Zhang had to travel to relatives' places on a tractor. Worried about being forced into abortion, she did not dare to go to the hospital even though the baby was due soon. After all kinds of hardship, she finally gave birth to the son at home.

张久平1957年出生，是顺义区杨镇沙子营村民。在这段口述中，张老人回忆了自己艰苦的一生。张老人家里是扫房户，妈妈一人带着四个孩子，父亲在北京工厂上班。因为家里穷，张老人念到小学二年级就辍学在家照顾妹妹。她十三岁代替妈妈，和哥哥一起上生产队干活，同时晚上织席添补家用。77年挖金鸡河时张老人的哥哥受刺激得了精神病，等费尽心思帮助哥哥痊愈并结婚之后，张老人自己才得以和处了好多年的对象结婚。84年张老人怀上儿子时适逢计划生育，为了躲避政府的人，张老人大着肚子坐着拖拉机逃到亲戚家，临产了也不敢上医院怕被迫流产，最后几经周折才在家里生下了儿子。

Transcripts for this interview and more may be available under the ‘Documents’ link above. 采访抄录和相关内容，请点击查看上面的’Documents’链接。