Ye Rijin | 叶日锦, 2011

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Ye Rijin (b.1938) is a resident of Zhaixia Village, Pengzhai Town, Heping County, Heyuan City, Guangdong Province. After the communization, the commune claimed that they had a harvest of 100 thousand jin per acre. Many people died of hunger. For instance, Ye Zuoxing went to the eating hall to fetch porridge for his mother, but could not help eating all of it on his way home. His mother died afterwards. People ate all kinds of famine foods and either died of sickness or starvation. Since Ye went to the mining field to work and sold Chinese pancakes on the street, he did not suffer much hunger. During the Cultural Revolution, Ye was a Red Guard. He also remembers that many educated youths from the city came to live with the villagers. The transcript of this interview has been translated into English.

叶日锦（ 1938年生）是广东省河源市和平县彭寨镇寨下村村民。据叶老人说，公社化期间，公社曾说大话宣称亩产十万斤。很多人饿死，比如叶佐杏去食堂打粥，想拿回去给他母亲吃，但他走到半路把粥喝完了，家里的母亲后来就饿到死了。人们吃烂番薯骗、野菜、糠、布菜、山将树、黄狗头等，或者病死，或者饿死。老人由于当时去矿场做工，后来又在街上做饼，没太忍受过饥饿。文革期间，老人当过红卫兵。老人还回忆了一些从城里来的知青，和他们同吃同住。

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