Being a member of the 70's cohort, I remember vividly how Grandpa's residence was occupied by 3 lots of army, marine and air force men and their families.
Grandpa was what I would call a neo-communist. He was the CFO the Chinese subsidiary of a large US firm, a calligrapher, an artist, and a fellow of a Shanghai/>/> engineers' association. According to his last wife who was not my grandma, he spent his Saturday mornings on art-related things, afternoon on 昆曲 in 文化广场 near home, evening on 西餐 on 襄阳南路 .He spend the the whole Sunday on entertaining on entertaining his relatives at his 3-storey mansion. According to my nephews, going to his house in the inner south west part of Shanghai/>/> on a weekly basis is better than going to their own 外婆 s ‘ .
He was a great benefactor to his extended family, his friends and those with whom he had no relationship, but not so much to his immediate family. He even sold his mansion to the CCP for a meagre 5 yuan--not even enough to buy a decent gate lock at the time--to prevent his children and grandchildren from making claim on this estate. Being his eldest grandson, I am only entitled to 500 yuan of his million. And this 500 is to help my wedding, an absolute necessity.
It is hard to believe that a man of such incredible knowledge about modern business, art and technology can fall victim to propaganda. He sent two of his three sons to navy (science dept) and army (strategic regiment), and another to the best university to study Marxism, BEFORE the 1949 takeover. If anything, he, a red capitalist, is part of the propaganda.
What I am trying to say here is this: propaganda alone cannot achieve what it had (and has) achieved in China/>/>. Grandpa was no average Chinese man, but he was a believer of communism. The Gang of Four was not to be blamed, nor were Mr and Mrs Mao. It is us, the people that make the Cultural Revolution and the likes of it.
I was told that the 3 lots of army, marine and air force personnel and their families wasted no time moving into my (Grandpa's) house when Dad decided to give up two of the 3 stories. He could not afford the 90 yuan monthly rent, which was 9 yuan on the eve of Cultural Revolution.
This reminds me of the 4th June movement. The student leaders wasted no time fighting to claim their fiefdom right there in Tiananmen Square/>. Very predictable! But still sounds like a date rape to me.
We asked for it!
src="http://www.youtube.com/v/r_t4ZCle_po"
People have never been innocent. They were not when Jesus was nailed on the cross, they are not, and never will be.
Is Adolph Hitler capable of inciting, propagating, mobilising and dictating to Germans, one of the most rational and highly educated people? Are pre-war Germans at all innocent?
People deserve their government, democratically elected or otherwise. The only person who was able to pull Iraq together was just hung. Sad but true.
Thanks for reading and commenting
The Gang of Four is not to be blamed, nor are Mr and Mrs Mao. It is us, the people that make the Cultural Revolution.
Oh, you think the people in China can make the culture revolution. You think the people are crazy enough to do those things. Now, look back the June 4 event, that is the people event, how about the consequence. That event is not blessed by the communist. The culture revolution was. Please don't blame the innocent people. If you lived under that regime, at that time, I am afraid we will all be doing the things they were doing. It is a helpless situation. Thank you for your sharing anyway.
