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Yang Qirong (b. 1942) is a resident of Guanjiagou Village, Shaanxi Province. In this interview, Yang recalls the different kinds of non-staple food they had when eating at the communal canteen. The villagers didn't have enough strength to work because of hunger. Under the strict supervision, they dug the field, removed grass and laid stones. The grains were planted widely, but the production was quite low and different plants were mixed and harvested. The agricultural tax was quite high back then. Yang had to get up very early in the morning to build the reservoir and worked till very late at night. Sometimes he even slept there. However, the work result was not really obvious.

Yang Qiuzhen (b. 1932) is a resident of Wangjiayan Village, Baiyun Town, Shimen County, Hunan Province. In this interview, Yang recalls how she and her husband were bullied by the local leaders after the people's commune canteen was established while she made every effort to resist the oppression. Yang also recounts how her family survived the famine because of the vegetables she stole from the canteen. The filmmaker's description of this interview has been translated into English.

Yang Shizhen (b.1939) is a resident of Jiaochangba Village, Kuanzhuang, Fuming County, Kunming, Yunnan Province. Yang is Xiong Jiahong's wife and she cannot manage her daily life on her own. During the Land Reform, Yang's family was classified as landlord. Out of fear, her father hanged himself. Her mother was locked up for a month. Since her mother was sick, 12-year-old Yang Shizhen went to struggle session in lieu of her parents. She got married at the age of 18 and then had 10 children, 5 of which died at the age of 2 or 3. The transcript of this interview has been translated into English.

Yang Wanxiang (b. 1922) is a resident of Huanzidong Village, Shenyang, Liaoning Province. In this interview, Yang recalls the life during the Great Famine. Yang was working as the supervisor of the village's production team. In 1959, everyone was still eating at the communal canteen, but starting from 1960 when the famine was at its worst, people had to eat at home. Many starved to death in that year. The situation began to improve in 1961. The transcript of this interview has been translated into English.

Biographical information. Faculty/Staff

Yang Wukui (b.1945) is a resident of Xiangzidian Village, Yinhua Town, Shanyang County, Shangluo City, Shanxi Province. During those years, he worked on the construction of roads and dam. He also burned coals at night for iron factories during the backyard furnace movement. There were five people in his family. People were so hungry that they went to find wild vegetables and ate tree leaves. His father got sick because of starvation and died evntually. The transcript of this interview has been translated into English.

Yang Xiulan (b.1919) is a resident of Zhanggao Village, Heguan Town, Qingzhou City, Shandong Province. In this interview, Yang remembers experiences during the Great Famine. Her husband was building the reservoir elsewhere, and she grinded sweet potato vines for the People's Commune canteen. Her second son starved to death because there was not much to eat. Later they went working at Liangmeng Village, and few people were strong enough to work in the farm. Corpses were not buried but all next to the river. The filmmaker's description of this interview has been translated into English.