Interview with Gong Zhiqing

Gong Zhiqing (b. 1941) is a resident of Diaoyutai Village, Hubei Province. In this interview, Gong talks about the Great Famine. According to Gong, the cause of the famine was China's paying off the foreign debt. Gong thinks there was nothing wrong with the policies made by the higher-level government, but due to the negligence of and exaggerated harvest reports made by the local cadres, the villagers suffered a lot from the famine. Gong also talks about the life in 1959 when building the Zijin Mountain reservoir and the causes of death for those who died of starvation during that time. According to Gong, over one hundred people from Minyue Brigade (namely, Diaoyutai Village) starved to death.

宫志清1941年出生, 是湖北省随州市殷店镇钓鱼台村村民。在这段口述中, 宫老人回忆了大饥荒时期的情况。据宫老人讲述, 当时挨饿的原因是国家还外债。宫老人认为, 上级的政策并没问题, 但当地村干部不作为, 虚报收成, 导致村民受灾挨饿, 自己却有粮食吃。宫老人还讲述了1959年去紫金山修水库的生活, 以及当年因饥饿去世的村民的死亡原因。宫老人回忆说, 当时整个民跃大队（即钓鱼台村）饿死超过一百人。

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。