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Qiu Jiafa (b.1940) is a resident of Diaoyutai Village, Yindian Town, Suizhou City, Hubei Province. During the Great Famine, Qiu was in middle school and his teachers led students to find oak tree seed and bark, vitex leaves and Chinese scholar tree flowers for food. All members of the production team had to participate in building the reservoir and a meal provided by the People's Commune Canteen included only two liang of rice and boiled water grass. Qiu's father starved to death in 1959. Qiu believes that the Great Famine happened partly because the cadres much exaggerated the grain production to gain political achievements, and partly because the cadres stole some grain given by the government. Commune members of the production team dared not report because they were afraid of the vengency from the cadres.

Tang Taozhen (b. 1937) is a resident of Jimingqiao Village, Baiyun Town, Shimen County, Hunan Province. In this interview, Tang recalls how she cooked in the people's commune canteen, and how some villagers ate grass seeds because of starvation. Tang also recalls no babies were born during 1958 and 1961 because couples were working separately at different places and they were too starving.

Tang Chaogao (b. 1944) is a resident of Jimingqiao Village, Baiyun Town, Shimen County, Hunan Province. In this interview, Tang briefly talks about how he ate tree bark and grass seeds because of starvation when running the people's commune canteen.

Liu Yuzhen (b. 1919) is a resident of Wangjiayan Village, Baiyun Town, Shimen County, Hunan Province. In this interview, Liu recalls how her in-laws died of starvation and how some villagers were forced to stand for eating grass seeds when running the people's commune canteen.

Into the Fields: documentary award paperwork

Zeng Man (b.1929) is a resident of Zhaixia Village, Pengzhai Town, Heping County, Heyuan City, Guangdong Province. Zeng took part in the denunciation of landlords during the Cultural Revolution. She went to landlords' homes to tie people up and carry their properties. The landlords were put in pig cages and their properties were shared between other villagers. The Red Guards wronged many people. After the communization, many starved to death. The production team put too many seeds in the field, and could not get enough harvest afterwards. People ran out of food quickly. Zeng did not suffer hunger because her family works at the eating hall and secretly brought back food. The transcript of this interview has been translated into English.

Huang Yujiao (b.1935) is a resident of Zhaixia Village, Pengzhai Town, Heping County, Heyuan City, Guangdong Province. When Huang was seven years old, she became a child bride. After the liberation, she got divorced after being abused. She was then married to Ye Hengqin. Huang says that they sprinkled seeds instead of planting them. Following orders from higher authorities, they put many seeds within the same field and the crops could not live. During the Famine, people ate many kinds of famine foods. Someone ate twelve jin of zucchinis and got bloated to death. Someone died after eating too many bamboo shoots.

Ye Shiying (b.1938) is a resident of Zhaixia Village, Pengzhai Town, Heping County, Heyuan City, Guangdong Province. Ye recollects that, during the Great Famine, people could only get two tablespoons of porridge from the eating hall every day, and ate them with steamed sweet potato slices at home. She also ate many other kinds of famine food and she could hardly find potatoes in the mountains after working for a whole day. Many people starved to death after the communization, including people in the elderly homes and maternities. The production team sprinkled seeds instead of actually planting them; they had no harvest, but reported the opposite to the higher authorities.

Zhu Shunlian (b. 1937) was born in Zhushan County, Shiyan City, Hubei Province, and moved to Diaoyutai Village (Yindian Town, Suizhou City, Hubei Province) in 1988. Her husband was once the production team leader. In this interview, Zhu recalls that she and her husband worked at Zhushan mine and ate at the People's Commune canteen in 1959. The food available in the canteen and households included buckwheat, corn flour, grass root, rice chaff, tree leaves, chingma abutilon seed and wild walnut, as well as a mixture made of soy milk, pumpkin leaves, string bean leaves, potato leaves and wild plants. Zhu also remembers that some people from Sichuan escaped to Hubei because of the famine.

Ye Yaolang (b.1938) is a resident of Zhaixia Village, Pengzhai Town, Heping County, Heyuan City, Guangdong Province. Ye learned tailoring with his father after elementary school and then taught himself painting bed boards. He went to places to paint boards to escape the Great Famine. Ye recollects that, during the Great Leap Forward, the production team planted crops on two sides of the road just to impress their leaders, and used soil to fake fertilizers. The production team also spilled too many crop seeds and gained no harvest. They put layers of sweet potato vines on the field, which did not lead to more sweet potatoes at all.

Applications for Into the Fields, Sowing Seeds for Change, Students Organizing Schools; includes housing applications