Interview with Chen Xinmin

Chen Xinmin (b.1943) is a resident of Diaoyutai Village, Yindian Town, Suizhou City, Hubei Province. The Great Famine, according to him, was because the central government in 1959 encouraged people to 'tighten their belts' in order to pay off the debt to Soviet Union, the local cadres exaggerated about the grain production for their political achievements, and they made unfair allocation of the grain. Chen talks about how several fellow villagers starved to death, including the controversy over whether Ma Zhengyi died of starvation or of overeating. Chen described in detail about the Four Cleanups movement based on his own experience of being criticized and writing self criticism. Chen was found as 'clean' by the movement, so he became a cadre in the production team at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution. In 1968-1969, he was the director of the Revolution Committee. Chen says that the Revolution Committee was in charge of any chaotic situation caused by beating, smashing, and looting, and his village maintained peaceful social order during the Cultural Revolution.

陈新民（1943年生）是湖北省随州市殷店镇钓鱼台村村民。他的口述涉及大饥荒、四清运动和文革三个主题。关于大饥荒, 他解释原因是1959年中央政府提出百姓'把肚子勒一下'偿还苏联债务, 部分基层干部为了政绩虚报粮食产量, 而且对于本地存储的粮食管理分配有问题。陈老人还讲述了当地几位村民饿死的情况, 包括关于马正义是饿死还是涨死的争议。关于四清运动, 陈老人结合自己受生产队开会批斗、写检讨的经历, 详细讲述了运动发展的情况。因为运动中没有被查出问题, 文革开始后陈老人一直在生产队担任干部, 特别是1968－1969年间担任革委会主任。陈老人讲述革命委员会专门管理文革期间打砸抢的混乱局面, 他所在的乡没有出现乱局。

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。