China in Ten Words

Yu Hua explores the concept of revolution and its various manifestations throughout China’s recent history, spanning from the Cultural Revolution to the country’s remarkable economic transformation. He argues that the lack of political transparency has been a key factor in facilitating China’s rapid economic growth, as the revolutionary spirit has persisted in different forms and guises over time.

Yu Hua begins by focusing on the development of China’s steel industry, drawing parallels between the frenzied production during the Great Leap Forward in 1958 and the rapid output growth witnessed in the 1990s. He notes that while the motivations behind these two periods of growth differed significantly–the former was driven by empty political agendas and the latter by the desire for personal financial gain–the fervor and intensity remained remarkably similar. Yu Hua then proceeds to recount the absurdities of the early Great Leap Forward, which initially resembled a romantic comedy with its exaggerated claims of agricultural and industrial productivity. However, this period quickly descended into a cruel tragedy as widespread famine gripped the nation, largely due to inflated production figures and excessive grain procurement by the state. Yu Hua describes the brutal campaigns conducted by local officials to root out those accused of concealing produce or engaging in private distribution, highlighting the human cost of this failed policy.

Moving to the present day, Yu Hua identifies numerous instances in which the revolutionary spirit has continued to manifest itself in China’s economic development. He points to the frenzy surrounding the construction of large-scale public works projects, such as airports, harbors, and highways, as well as the rapid expansion of higher education enrollments. He argues that these initiatives often lead to impractical, extravagant, and duplicate projects which are pursued with the same vigor and intensity as a revolutionary campaign. Yu Hua cites examples of underutilized infrastructure projects and the staggering debt accumulated by Chinese universities as evidence of the unintended consequences of this approach. He also highlights the challenges faced by the job market in absorbing the ever-growing number of college graduates, leading to many young people finding themselves unemployed or underemployed despite their parents’ significant financial sacrifices.

Yu Hua then shifts his focus to the role of official seals in China, which serve as powerful symbols of political and economic authority. He recounts several stories from both the Cultural Revolution and the Reform Era, in which individuals and groups resorted to violence, intimidation, and deception to seize these seals and assert their power. During the Cultural Revolution, rebel factions and Red Guards launched attacks on government offices, factories, and schools in a nationwide struggle to gain control of these seals. Yu Hua describes how the possession of an official seal could instantly legitimize any action, allowing the holder to issue orders, allocate funds, and even destroy the lives of others with impunity. In the Reform Era, Yu Hua notes that similar struggles continue to occur within private companies, state-run enterprises, and even between government entities; individuals go to great lengths to secure these symbols of authority.

Yu Hua also discusses the brutality and violence that has accompanied China’s rapid urbanization process. He likens the large-scale demolition of old housing to the revolutionary violence of the Cultural Revolution, describing scenes of utter devastation reminiscent of wartime bombing raids. He provides numerous examples of forced evictions and the suppression of popular resistance, often carried out with the backing of local governments and police forces. He recounts tales of residents being dragged from their homes in the middle of the night, their possessions destroyed or confiscated, and their houses razed to the ground within a matter of hours. Yu Hua highlights the legal and moral ambiguities surrounding these actions, as well as the growing social tensions they have engendered.

Throughout the chapter, Yu Hua shares personal anecdotes from his own childhood during the Cultural Revolution. He reminisces about the older brother of a classmate who enthusiastically participated in the Red Guard movement, traveling the country and engaging in various revolutionary activities. However, this young man’s life took a tragic turn when he was later sent to the countryside as an educated youth, where he grew increasingly despondent and ultimately died. Yu Hua also reflects on the unpredictable and often brutal nature of social ties during the revolution, recounting the story of a classmate’s father who died by suicide after being targeted as a capitalist-roader, as well as the story of a teacher who was betrayed by her seemingly close colleague.

Finally, Yu Hua shares the story of his own brother, Hua Shu, who fully embodied the revolutionary spirit in his defiant actions towards teachers and authority figures. Yu Hua describes how his brother’s audacious behavior, such as punching a teacher and disrupting classes, left a deep impression on him as a young boy. Yu Hua notes that he and his classmates, as primary school students, yearned for the day when they could enter middle school and engage in similar acts of rebellion without fear of consequences.