Correspondents' Correspondence The Chinese Intellectual

...He refuses to go into detail about what happened to him in thought-reform cadre schools There is only one occasion when he raises his arm and bursts out, "Look at this' I twisted it when I tried to lift something heavy And who took care of me and put on the splint when I came home on leave...

...China is my country I must go back " He sees hope in the new leaders, and he still believes in socialism for China So here turns He may or may not have been a Parts member He is a turn patriot-Timothy Tim...

...A few years later, Mao's slogan, "Let 100 Flowers Bloom," further exhilarated him He spoke up passionately, pointing out the system's blemishes As a result, he was among the first victims of the Chairman's Anti-Rightist Campaign, and having once been branded a reactionary, he could not escape the Cultural Revolution that followed He was called m for self-criticisms, he wrote confessions and endured humiliations at the hands of young Red Guards His promotions stopped, his writings were no longer published, his salary was cut in half, and he and his growing family were forced to move from a two-room to a one-room apartment Frequently, he was sent down to the countryside for "reform through labor "He was luckier than many ,though, in having a wife who refused to denounce him by divorce Living in despair for 20 years, he nonetheless stole every chance to read or transl a tea book, to listen to Western classical music...

...one would not guess that he is close to 60...

...Although this is his first trip abroad, he is eager to explain that he anticipated no culture shock because he has long been an avid reader of Damon Runyon and Ring Lardner In his mind, he asserts, he is not unaccustomed to neon light sand Broad way scenes He expresses no desire to see the Empire State Building, but he is most anxious to walk the streets of Greenwich Village-where he will search in vain for the old haunts of artists and writers he has read about...

...By 1949 he had met with some success as a teacher or a writer and he was tremendously encouraged by the liberated China's treatment of these professions -enhanced status and increased pay or royalties If he had gone to the West to study, he would have excitedly rushed back, heeding the new regime's call to serve the motherland...

...My 13-year-old son His mother wasn't home She was in another camp ". In the end he gets bored with New York and does not wish to prolong his stay American friends offer help an academic research job perhaps'' "What can I do here...

...With the death of Mao and the downfall of the Gang of Four, he was rehabilitated, reinstated, promoted But not much arouses his interest any more He claims that what really impresses him about U S society is its orderliness and civility policemen don't bully, drivers stop at intersections and wave pedestrians past, customers waiting in line at the bank respect one another's privacy by staying a discreet step apart...

...He was born into a middle class family, probably in a coastal city, and attended missionary schools until college In middle school he was first stimulated by the ideas of Western democracy, then radicalized by Ba Jin's novels From these he went on to devour the works of Lu Xun and other Left-wing writers Indignation at the inequity between rich and poor and at the corruption of the Kuomintang, plus a feeling of patriotism kindled by the Japanese invasion, drew him to underground activities organized by Communist youth groups He began to write poetry and was at once arrogant, romantic and idealistic His more determined friends pilgrimaged to Mao's stronghold in Yenan or joined guerrilla bands fighting the Japanese He stayed behind, and V-J Day found him at the university With the return of the American presence in the postwar years, he drank Coke, smoked Camels, and turned his attention to girls and parties The United States both repulsed and fascinated him He was caught between his desires to be a revolutionary and to travel the world...

...The Chinese Intellectual New York coming out of customs with jaunty steps, he could be a traveler from Tokyo, Hong Kong, Taipei-any Asian city except Peking He wears a fake fur-lined jacket and a pair of jeans, and carries a smart shoulder bag-all gifts from relatives outside China When he left Peking airport, he says, he was in fact mistaken for a foreigner and spoken to in English His lined face shows little sign of his years of suffering...