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Book: Feather in the Storm: A Childhood Lost in Chaos by Emily Wu, Larry Engelmann
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Authors: Emily Wu, Larry Engelmann
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the mass, crying frantically, “Out of the way! Out of the way!” They held a freshly composed poster high above their heads. Once they found an open slot, they hurriedly put up their composition and began reading it to the crowd.
At first I thought everyone participating in this activity must be having fun. It looked and sounded like a gigantic playground for adults. But soon I was struck by the fact that none of the participants was smiling or laughing. When students at my school made posters, it was fun.
Many posters proclaimed devotion to Chairman Mao and demanded implementation of the new Party policy of eradicating the Four Olds—old thought, old culture, old customs and old habits. Others, more strident, demanded that the people “sweep away all cow demons and snake spirits”—a phrase resurrected from Chinese myth to describe enemies of the people. The new demons and spirits were landlords, rich peasants, reactionaries, bad elements, rightists, traitors, spies, capitalist roaders and the running dogs who supported them. Prominent among running dogs were academics, who, it was revealed, used classrooms and the press to undermine the revolution in order to restore the rule of the Nationalists and capitalist exploiters. “The intelligentsia fancy themselves the nation’s brain,” one poster proclaimed. “In fact, they are not the brain but the shit.”
After an hour of watching students tear down old posters and put up new ones, I found myself standing before a poster that struck me with dread. My heart began beating so hard I feared those standing around me might hear it. The poster showed a large crouching tiger with a man’s face and long fangs. Blood dripped from the open mouth. The caption proclaimed, WU NINGKUN, THE PAPER TIGER ISN’T DEAD .
The drawing exaggerated Papa’s black-rimmed spectacles and the mane of hair combed straight across his forehead. An American flag was painted on his cheek. I quickly stepped to the next poster only to find yet another ugly caricature of Papa. One accused him of undermining the socialist spirit of his students by assigning bourgeois texts. Yet another condemned his use of
Gulliver’s Travels
and
The Great Gatsby
.
An entire series of posters alleged that Papa used radio broadcasts to undermine student faith in the Communist Party. He had indeed been given clearance to use excerpts of broadcasts from the BBC and VOA in addition to Radio Beijing for listening comprehension courses. Because it was a crime to listen to “enemy broadcasts,” the local Bureau of Public Security had to extend special permission for Papa to make recordings from the broadcasts. He was the only former “enemy of the people” in Hefei granted such permission. Yet now he was under suspicion for making the recordings, and the administrators who had helped him gain access were also in trouble.
Beneath the smiling tiger caricature was an explanation of why Papa, despite his decapping, remained an enemy of the people. “Wu Ningkun,” it read, “has a criminal past. As early as 1943 he worked as an interpreter for the Imperial American Flying Tigers and the Nationalist Air Force. During his eight-year stay in the United States he was secretly trained as a spy. Under the disguise of a professor of English, he came back to teach at Yenching University in 1951. His crime was exposed when he was denounced as an ultra-rightist and sent to prison on April 17, 1958.”
I had known only that Papa was away when I was small and that he had spent three years in concentration camps in northeast China. I was not even sure what a concentration camp was.
I glanced around as I read, fearing that someone might recognize me and point me out as the daughter of the man on the poster, raise an accusatory finger and detain me. I wanted a gust of wind to blow away these posters. I wanted a rainstorm to wash out the hateful words and pictures. I wanted everyone around me to stop reading and go home and
At first I thought everyone participating in this activity must be having fun. It looked and sounded like a gigantic playground for adults. But soon I was struck by the fact that none of the participants was smiling or laughing. When students at my school made posters, it was fun.
Many posters proclaimed devotion to Chairman Mao and demanded implementation of the new Party policy of eradicating the Four Olds—old thought, old culture, old customs and old habits. Others, more strident, demanded that the people “sweep away all cow demons and snake spirits”—a phrase resurrected from Chinese myth to describe enemies of the people. The new demons and spirits were landlords, rich peasants, reactionaries, bad elements, rightists, traitors, spies, capitalist roaders and the running dogs who supported them. Prominent among running dogs were academics, who, it was revealed, used classrooms and the press to undermine the revolution in order to restore the rule of the Nationalists and capitalist exploiters. “The intelligentsia fancy themselves the nation’s brain,” one poster proclaimed. “In fact, they are not the brain but the shit.”
After an hour of watching students tear down old posters and put up new ones, I found myself standing before a poster that struck me with dread. My heart began beating so hard I feared those standing around me might hear it. The poster showed a large crouching tiger with a man’s face and long fangs. Blood dripped from the open mouth. The caption proclaimed, WU NINGKUN, THE PAPER TIGER ISN’T DEAD .
The drawing exaggerated Papa’s black-rimmed spectacles and the mane of hair combed straight across his forehead. An American flag was painted on his cheek. I quickly stepped to the next poster only to find yet another ugly caricature of Papa. One accused him of undermining the socialist spirit of his students by assigning bourgeois texts. Yet another condemned his use of
Gulliver’s Travels
and
The Great Gatsby
.
An entire series of posters alleged that Papa used radio broadcasts to undermine student faith in the Communist Party. He had indeed been given clearance to use excerpts of broadcasts from the BBC and VOA in addition to Radio Beijing for listening comprehension courses. Because it was a crime to listen to “enemy broadcasts,” the local Bureau of Public Security had to extend special permission for Papa to make recordings from the broadcasts. He was the only former “enemy of the people” in Hefei granted such permission. Yet now he was under suspicion for making the recordings, and the administrators who had helped him gain access were also in trouble.
Beneath the smiling tiger caricature was an explanation of why Papa, despite his decapping, remained an enemy of the people. “Wu Ningkun,” it read, “has a criminal past. As early as 1943 he worked as an interpreter for the Imperial American Flying Tigers and the Nationalist Air Force. During his eight-year stay in the United States he was secretly trained as a spy. Under the disguise of a professor of English, he came back to teach at Yenching University in 1951. His crime was exposed when he was denounced as an ultra-rightist and sent to prison on April 17, 1958.”
I had known only that Papa was away when I was small and that he had spent three years in concentration camps in northeast China. I was not even sure what a concentration camp was.
I glanced around as I read, fearing that someone might recognize me and point me out as the daughter of the man on the poster, raise an accusatory finger and detain me. I wanted a gust of wind to blow away these posters. I wanted a rainstorm to wash out the hateful words and pictures. I wanted everyone around me to stop reading and go home and
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