2. October 31st, 1960:
Great Leap “Backward”
Our country is falling apart. It all seemed so good when the
communists took power, but I was wrong. Our family all used to
support communism; however, this is way over the line.
I remember how Chairman Mao was all so sure about the
communist world he is making, but look at China now. This Great
Leap Forward thing made the situation worse. Initially, it was
supposed to make China prosper and equal that it would join the
superpowers like Russia and the US.
However, the project was just random implementations of
unproven and unreasonable ideas that just messed everything up.
People are losing their minds from famine. Businesses are falling
down while the working class got too much power. Economy has
crashed with inflation and all that.

3. Even my own family, which we thought were richer than the
majority, had barely anything to eat. We only got to eat a bowl of
noodles and some rice per meal. Some of my family friends have
died due to no food. The ambition of Mao and his party members
is too much for the people to handle.
When Mao Zedong and the communists ran the Nationalists and
its leader Chiang Kai-Shek out of the mainland, the peasants were
happy. They thought that the working class would now have a
chance to prosper.
Back then, my father and I was not that happy. My father and his
father worked so hard and studied so hard to get to their place.
We deserve this place and those peasants do not. How is it fair
when the people who worked hard for generations have equal
rights to people who just work in the fields? It isn’t.
All those officials like Zhou Enlai, Liu Shaoqi, and Zhu De are also
ones who worked hard to get to that authority they are right now.
Why are they working so hard for ones who are just poor and lazy?

4. Plus, the Hundred Flowers Campaign and the Great Leap Forward
showed that this “communism” Mao is seeking for is not
communism at all. When Mao launched the Hundred Flowers
Campaign, it was originally for the people to publicly criticize Mao
and other officials.
Later when people obeyed Mao and criticized him, Mao decided
to kill them all because they were going against him. This does not
make any sense. Mao is not trying to be equal with the workers
but have the people worship him. What kind of communism is this?
I lost faith in Mao, and I’m pretty sure quite a lot of people did. He
definitely should step out of power and let some other smarter
ones lead the country. The failure of the Great Leap Forward and
the cost of innocent citizens’ lives are too much for him to take.
Mao and the communists should have never taken leadership of
our country.

5. During the Great Leap Forward, lots of poor families barely had anything
to eat. Even my family had not so much to eat.

6. November 26th, 1966:
The Cultural Revolution
Seriously, Mao is complicating our society even more now.
Students beat their own professors, took all their property, and
had them on public trials. Most of them…no, all of them were
killed eventually. Now I am living in threat, knowing that such
harassment can happen to me any time.
After the Great Leap Forward failed catastrophically, the people
abandoned the communes. Economy was falling down. It seemed
like what I foresaw was true. People lost faith in Mao and the
communists, thus Mao stepped out of power while Liu Shaoqi
took control over the country.

7. Liu seemed like he knew what he was doing. He tried to get the
country get back on track as a normal capitalist country rather
than an extreme communist country. Life became so much better,
not only for the workers but even for us. Now our family got meat,
noodles, dumplings, vegetables, and even tea for a single meal.
The bureaucratic class, party officials and us intellectuals emerged
into power. Everything was going fine again.
Unfortunately, that did not go on forever. This summer, Mao
suddenly appeared in front of the people again. The PLA leader
Lin Biao, one of Mao’s allies, published the Little Red Book for the
people to learn and worship. He wanted the people to worship
the man who almost killed them? What was he thinking? Back
then; I still thought nobody would obey the new rule.
But I was wrong. Starting out from the PLA, everyone in China is
for some reason reading all that nonsense from Mao. The worse
thing is that the people are actually worshipping this from Mao,
thinking he is some sort of god.

8. Mao is willing to get rid of all the “capitalists-roaders” in China.
All of us intellectuals are not that stupid to not realize that
capitalists for Mao simply mean Mao’s potential political enemies.
Now the working class is putting up these big propaganda
posters, all about worshipping Mao, and trying to basically get rid
of all other officials. He literally encouraged the public to attack
authority. Why is he doing this to us? We are the right ones that
are leading China to a better society. He cannot do this to his
comrades that helped him all their lives.
Students formed groups called the Red Guards, trying to get rid of
the old ways and ideas of the nation. The Red Guards destroyed
religious monuments and burned books. Just yesterday, about
300 Red Guards stormed into our university and burned the entire
library down.
It is so chaotic out here now, and it seems like China is heading
towards doom. Lots of people will be, and are targeted by this
revolution, and that somehow includes me.

9. The students are out rallying by holding up the Little Red Book, showing
their respect to Mao.

10. October 31st, 1968:
Fall of the Rich
Sadly, my hunch proved to be true.
The Red Guards went around the country, trying to get rid of the
so-called “Four Olds”. The students destroyed temples, mosques,
libraries, and all evidence of the past. They were terminating what
our ancestors have done for the past millenniums in just a few
years.
They even ferretted out key members of the government,
intellectuals, and other members of the higher class. These
people included high ranked officials, most notably Liu Shaoqi.
Those people were publicly humiliated, beaten up, and eventually
died or committed suicide.
It is no doubt that we are living in an era of terror.

11. When Mao declared the Cultural Revolution two years ago, my
friends and I did not give anything. We were all very sure that the
revolution would fail just like how the Great Leap Forward did. It
was obvious that Mao would collapse again.
But now, I realize that I have never been so wrong.
For the past two years or so, everything has changed for us
intellectuals. We no longer teach the students we used to. For me,
I now just stay at home, hiding, hoping nobody would find me and
kill me like others. I do know I am a coward, but I cannot do
anything about it.
I still clearly remember what happened to my friend Zhao Jiehong
a month ago. He was one of the most popular history professors
in the capital. All students, and even some other professors
respected him.

12. Zhao was ferreted out easily because he wasn’t hiding like I was.
He, alongside other professors, held those heavy nametags on
their neck. Students pointed at him, criticizing and swearing,
ripping his hair off and all that, but Zhao could not do anything
about it. I was in the crowd, disguised as a worker, and I could see
the misery in Zhao’s face.
It seemed like he gave up now. He died two days later. Oh, my
poor friend.
And just today, I heard Liu Shaoqi stepped out of his authority,
kneeling down in front of the workers. Even the leaders of our
country are giving up and being scapegoats of this revolution.
What can I do? I hope there is something, but I know the truth. I
can’t do anything.

13. My fellow professors were ferreted out and killed. I feel so worthless and
cowardly.

14. October 8th, 1976
Peace Once Again
The Gang of Four was arrested just yesterday. That sucks for them.
But at least now we can live in some peace, I guess.
It is only a month since Mao, that old bastard, died. The thing is, it
seems like people are still despondent because Mao died.
Thousands were crying and suffering in front of Tiananmen
Square, wanting their “great leader” back. They were acting like
the world has ended.
Maybe it has for them, but not for me. After Mao’s death, I could
get out of this attic, acting normally outside while people would
not even care about me anymore.
I thought this revolution would go on forever when it started 10
years ago. Literally everyone was trying to make this country
communist, get rid of the old and make China a totally new
country. The revolution seemed like it would succeed.

15. However, things started to change. The outer world disagreed
with Mao’s policies and the Cultural Revolution, so China
subsequently became isolated from world affairs. In 1971, Lin Biao
died in a plane crash. Critics suspect that Mao plotted his death
because he was afraid Lin Biao was gaining too much power. See,
Mao is a man like this. He holds hands with people that are helpful
and loyal to them, and as soon as they get a bit of power, he
brutally gets rid of them.
As the main figure of the revolution died, the revolution started to
lose its impetus. Struggles between CCP members continued,
while the Red Guards went back to school. I was getting a bit
more freedom. Nobody cared who I was because they did not
know who I was. I could now freely shop at the store with nobody
staring at me.
Groups for or against Mao started to form. The Gang of Four, led
by Mao’s wife Jiang Qing, was a major group supporting Mao’s
policies. After Mao’s death, they became a major threat to the
government.
The Gang of Four purged the moderates. They created the “Five
No’s”, including no photos of Zhou Enlai. Oh, talking about Zhou
Enlai, he was the only official that was not criticized during the
Cultural Revolution. The people liked him for his work to China,
and Mao also wanted to keep Zhou near him.

16. And then all of a sudden, Mao died.
Right after Mao’s death, the Gang of Four was targeted by
members of the CCP, most notably Ye Jianying. According to the
trial held just yesterday, the Gang of Four has tried to make a
coup d’état to get rid of the new government and make China to
a world has dreamed of. But thankfully it failed. I don’t want to
live in that world of Mao again.
Mao’s successor as leader for our country was just announced
yesterday at the CCP committee. For some reason, it was Hua
Guofeng who succeeded Mao. Even I think that he is not the one.
It should be someone like Deng Xiaoping, who knows what they
are doing. Oh well, Hua should be better than Mao.
Now that Mao is dead and the Cultural Revolution stopped, China
should be peaceful, at least for a couple of years. Hopefully.

17. The Gang of Four, including Mao’s wife and other officials, was arrested
just before they were going to execute their plan.

18. May 19th, 1979:
A New China
I was right about our future. Deng Xiaoping has announced his
economic reforms, trying to get China back into the world affairs
and economy. He decided to make the economy more capitalist
so that the country would become richer. And it is successful until
now. This is the realistic way to go, and Deng is doing it right.
After the Gang of Four was arrested just two years ago, Deng rose
into power. He stopped the people ferreting out officials like us,
making life more hopeful for me. Thanks to Deng’s policies, I
could have taught again at Beijing University. But I didn’t; I
decided to take a break for the rest of my life, as I do not think I
have much to live.

19. In 1977, Deng launched the Beijing Spring, which allowed anyone
to openly criticize the Cultural Revolution. My former colleagues
and I took my opportunity and asserted in front of the people
about my ideas about the revolution. Of course, there were lots
that disagreed with my thoughts and still worshipped the dead
leader. But thankfully, the young ones agreed with us that the
Cultural Revolution was a pointless and brutal action. Faith in the
future of China was restored, at least in my thoughts.
When Deng rose into power, members of the CCP were not happy.
Lots of them were against Deng and still believed that Mao was
correct. But reality cannot be ignored. Party officials slowly
started to follow Deng, as his policies did make China a better
place. He eventually became the number one leader in China, and
almost everybody respected him now.
Deng is walking a totally different path to Mao’s. He wants a
better economic system. He is trying to open up China to the
world. He wants the people to have a better life. That is what the
people really need, not some bull that Mao was trying to input in
China.

20. Last December, Deng successfully took over authority from the
incompetent Hua Guofeng. He announced his economic plans in
the 11th CPC Central Committee. He named this new plan "Reform
and Opening Up Policy”. Just as the name says, the plan is to
reform the devastated economy from Cultural Revolution, and
open up the country to the outer societies.
The lives of citizens got so much better as soon as this policy was
launched. This new reforming policy reduced poverty. Incomes
increased while the income inequality got narrower. I can go off
to the streets and see citizens buying so many products in
prosperous markets.
My life is already better when the real policy began only four
months ago. I wonder what the final result of this amazing project
would be. But it’s a shame that I’m already too old to see the
most out of Deng’s ideas. Still, this is what I have been waiting for
in my life: a world that can improve the lives of citizens.

21. Our new leader Deng Xiaoping has made lives so much better for all
citizens, including the rich ones like me.