Interview with Luo Yunbi

Luo Yunbi (b.1949) is a resident of Shuangjing Village, Shuangjing Town, Xupu County, Huaihua City, Hunan Province. In this interview, Luo recalls her experiences during the Great Famine and Cultural Revolution. People began eating “Helong meal” (eating with unlimited supply) in early 1959, but food began running short later in the same year. Her father was the branch secretary and forbade anyone in the family from stealing. Luo believes that since it was not long after “liberation”, food was not abundant due to underdeveloped technology. During the Cultural Revolution, Luo was the Women Team leader and went around for meetings, working and embroidering Mao images; besides, she had to ask for instructions in the morning and report results in the evening. At that time, all cadres were deemed as “capitalist roaders in power” and had to be struggled; sometimes sons even rebelled against fathers.

罗运碧1949年出生，是湖南省溆浦县双井镇双井村的村民。在这段口述中，罗老人回忆了大饥荒和文革期间的经历。1959年上半年开始吃“合拢饭”，可到了下半年粮食就紧张起来了。父亲是支部书记，不允许家里人去偷东西吃。1960年饿死了不少人，但食堂的伙夫都没挨饿。她说当时刚解放不久，科技不发达，所以粮食不丰富。文革时期罗运碧是妇女队队长，到处去开会、绣毛主席像、干活，每天要“早请示晚汇报”。当时做干部的就被看作当权派，要被打倒，有的儿子还造父亲的反。

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。