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Six Chapters from My Life "Downunder"
By now the world is familiar with the disastrous consequences of the ten year period (1966-1976) in China's history known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. The mistakes of Mao Zedong's later years have been officially acknowledged, and the infamous Gang of Four publicly tried and sentence for their crimes. But on the cultural front the thaw had no sooner come than gone. A campaign against what is regarded as "spiritual pollution" is being waged to inhibit free expression among creative writers.
Thousands of scholars, authors, respected professors and academicians, who as a class were the most persecuted in what some observers called China's "holocaust," are back at their respective stations, bent over the task of modernization. For understandable reasons, few have written candidly about their experiences during the Cultural Revolution. Yang Jiang is an outstanding exception.
In this memoir she give a poignant account of the more than two years she and her husband were sent "downunder" to the barren countryside for reeducation through labor. Yang Jiang touches upon any horrendous acts only in passing, or by indirection; mainly she relates in well-tempered tones the everyday incidents at their "cadre school" which add up to a harrowing tale.
Patterned after Shen Fu's "Six Chapters of a Floating Life," a minor classic of the Qing dynasty, Six Chapters form My Life 'Downunder' is a testimony of remarkable sophistication, and at the same time a powerful indictment of the madness of ignorant, totalitarian rule.. The author writes in a subtle, almost allegorical style, letting the reader share in her skepticism, disappointment, and frustration with the people, or the system, responsible for what was done to her family and her fellow victims. More in sorrow than in anger, here and there with a touch of wry humor, she records the backwardness and distrust of the peasants who were their "masters"; the utter waste of human resources; the vicious nature of political campaigns and the people involved in them; and, above all, the devotion between husband and wife which kept them going throughout their ordeal. While describing a society in one of its darkest moments, Yang Jiang reaffirms the endurance of humanity.
Although Yang Jiang lives in Beijing, Six Chapters from My Life 'Downunder' first appeared in a Hong Kong magazine in April 1981, and was published in book form there in the following month, attracting wide attention. it was published in the People's Republic of China later that year. The edition sold out quickly and no subsequent printings have been available. The present English translation, first published in the journal "Renditions," is issued here in slightly revised form and with the addition of footnotes and background notes.
Thousands of scholars, authors, respected professors and academicians, who as a class were the most persecuted in what some observers called China's "holocaust," are back at their respective stations, bent over the task of modernization. For understandable reasons, few have written candidly about their experiences during the Cultural Revolution. Yang Jiang is an outstanding exception.
In this memoir she give a poignant account of the more than two years she and her husband were sent "downunder" to the barren countryside for reeducation through labor. Yang Jiang touches upon any horrendous acts only in passing, or by indirection; mainly she relates in well-tempered tones the everyday incidents at their "cadre school" which add up to a harrowing tale.
Patterned after Shen Fu's "Six Chapters of a Floating Life," a minor classic of the Qing dynasty, Six Chapters form My Life 'Downunder' is a testimony of remarkable sophistication, and at the same time a powerful indictment of the madness of ignorant, totalitarian rule.. The author writes in a subtle, almost allegorical style, letting the reader share in her skepticism, disappointment, and frustration with the people, or the system, responsible for what was done to her family and her fellow victims. More in sorrow than in anger, here and there with a touch of wry humor, she records the backwardness and distrust of the peasants who were their "masters"; the utter waste of human resources; the vicious nature of political campaigns and the people involved in them; and, above all, the devotion between husband and wife which kept them going throughout their ordeal. While describing a society in one of its darkest moments, Yang Jiang reaffirms the endurance of humanity.
Although Yang Jiang lives in Beijing, Six Chapters from My Life 'Downunder' first appeared in a Hong Kong magazine in April 1981, and was published in book form there in the following month, attracting wide attention. it was published in the People's Republic of China later that year. The edition sold out quickly and no subsequent printings have been available. The present English translation, first published in the journal "Renditions," is issued here in slightly revised form and with the addition of footnotes and background notes.
128 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1984
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February 9, 2019
Nikdy bych nevěřila, že něco takového prohlásím o vzpomínkové knize z let „převýchovy“ během Kulturní revoluce, ale tahle kniha je prostě naprosto kouzelná. Většina čínských knih, které jsem v poslední době četla, byla plná špíny, násilí, zloby a bezmoci. Já to chápu, nestěžuju si, úplně tomu rozumím, ale Jang Ťiang napsala něco úplně jiného.
To je dáma, která prožila v Číně bezmála sto let, 1911 – 2016, to musel být neuvěřitelný život. Ve své útlé sbírce vzpomínek na nucený pobyt na venkově sice zmiňuje smrt, dřinu a strádání, ale činí tak jen letmo, mimoděk, jako dotykem motýlího křídla. Zato se podrobně věnuje popisu své zelinářské zahrádky, popisuje humorné historky o lejnu (doslova), lyricky líčí své bloudění opuštěnou krajinou, na mnoha místech odkazuje na klasickou čínskou literaturu, cituje básníky a stydí se. Ta kniha je nesmírně osobní a pocitová, je jako impresionistický obraz něčeho ošklivého, ale nádherně namalovaný. Ona dokáže ve vší té ošklivosti vidět úplně jiné věci, jak sama stojí mimo ošklivost a nad ošklivostí. Je to i něžný příběh, neříká nic výslovně, ale z jejích úvah a drobných starostí přímo čiší láska k jejímu muži, kterého „převychovávali“ nedaleko, ale přesto jinde. Oběma už bylo přes šedesát, fyzicky na tom nebyli úplně nejlíp, ale i vprostřed zmaru si zachovávali podivuhodnou vnitřní integritu, to je patrné zejména ve vzpomínce šesté, O absurditě: Falešná pomluva.
Pro mě ta kniha po tom všem byla jako pohlazení. Pro někoho jiného to nejspíš bude úplně jinak. Ale to nevadí, stejně si ji přečtěte, stojí za to.
To je dáma, která prožila v Číně bezmála sto let, 1911 – 2016, to musel být neuvěřitelný život. Ve své útlé sbírce vzpomínek na nucený pobyt na venkově sice zmiňuje smrt, dřinu a strádání, ale činí tak jen letmo, mimoděk, jako dotykem motýlího křídla. Zato se podrobně věnuje popisu své zelinářské zahrádky, popisuje humorné historky o lejnu (doslova), lyricky líčí své bloudění opuštěnou krajinou, na mnoha místech odkazuje na klasickou čínskou literaturu, cituje básníky a stydí se. Ta kniha je nesmírně osobní a pocitová, je jako impresionistický obraz něčeho ošklivého, ale nádherně namalovaný. Ona dokáže ve vší té ošklivosti vidět úplně jiné věci, jak sama stojí mimo ošklivost a nad ošklivostí. Je to i něžný příběh, neříká nic výslovně, ale z jejích úvah a drobných starostí přímo čiší láska k jejímu muži, kterého „převychovávali“ nedaleko, ale přesto jinde. Oběma už bylo přes šedesát, fyzicky na tom nebyli úplně nejlíp, ale i vprostřed zmaru si zachovávali podivuhodnou vnitřní integritu, to je patrné zejména ve vzpomínce šesté, O absurditě: Falešná pomluva.
Pro mě ta kniha po tom všem byla jako pohlazení. Pro někoho jiného to nejspíš bude úplně jinak. Ale to nevadí, stejně si ji přečtěte, stojí za to.
July 29, 2018
This gem is absolutely remarkable. It is a thin volume, and is unique in that it doesn't have a typical American-style cover. The cover, handwritten is almost like a visual poem....lovely, spare and stark.
Yang Jiang writes about her experiences in the cultural revolution in China, but on a very personal level. Heroic, but simple efforts are required to see her husband often, the conditions that she lives in, pets that are acquired, the work that she does, and family background weave a most insightful and unique view of these years. Her way of writing about the politics of this time are very subtle and understated. I am reminded of looking at this time through the "wrong" end of a telescope.
This is most certainly classic literature at its best.
Yang Jiang writes about her experiences in the cultural revolution in China, but on a very personal level. Heroic, but simple efforts are required to see her husband often, the conditions that she lives in, pets that are acquired, the work that she does, and family background weave a most insightful and unique view of these years. Her way of writing about the politics of this time are very subtle and understated. I am reminded of looking at this time through the "wrong" end of a telescope.
This is most certainly classic literature at its best.
August 7, 2025
Nedokážu vnímat a docenit všechny jemné nuance a náznaky mezi řádky, o kterých se píše v doslovu. Možná proto mě zaujala především vzájemná láska mezi autorkou a jejím mužem, láska, kterou ani okolnosti a odloučení nezlomily. Pro mě to tedy víc než vzpomínky na převýchovu kádrů byl milostný příběh, nečekaně něžný, dojemný a silný.
August 8, 2016
Jiang Yang was a writer and scholar in China who, with her husband, was caught up in the Cultural Revolution is the 60s and sent to be "reeducated" in the country. Although she describes nothing like the Soviet Gulag, the experience must have been horrible for her. The book is small, the incidents seem trivial and it's all heartbreaking.
Two of the themes that run through the book are that China's "intellectuals" or even just city people and its peasants were mutually distrustful and generally incompatible. The idea of sending the city intellectuals to the country was to teach them the "superiority" of the peasant way of life. All that seems to have accomplished is further distrust and incompatibility. Another big theme is waste. Jiang was in her 50s/60s at this time and wasn't able to do a lot of heavy work. Most of the intellectuals that were to be reeducated were in or near her age bracket and were virtually useless for doing the tasks they had been sent to the country for. So often they spent time "supervising" more or less. Another waste was watching propaganda films or discussing political theory.
As a personal look at the Cultural Revolution this book is a must. While it doesn't show savagery, torture or the pillaging of the intellectual's houses, it is a bemused and fascinating study.
Two of the themes that run through the book are that China's "intellectuals" or even just city people and its peasants were mutually distrustful and generally incompatible. The idea of sending the city intellectuals to the country was to teach them the "superiority" of the peasant way of life. All that seems to have accomplished is further distrust and incompatibility. Another big theme is waste. Jiang was in her 50s/60s at this time and wasn't able to do a lot of heavy work. Most of the intellectuals that were to be reeducated were in or near her age bracket and were virtually useless for doing the tasks they had been sent to the country for. So often they spent time "supervising" more or less. Another waste was watching propaganda films or discussing political theory.
As a personal look at the Cultural Revolution this book is a must. While it doesn't show savagery, torture or the pillaging of the intellectual's houses, it is a bemused and fascinating study.
November 4, 2010
Sadly out of print, this volume contains Yang Jiang's wonderful essay "The Years of the Horse and the Ram" (Bingwu yu dingwei jinian shi) in a fine translation. Professor Edward Gunn pointed out some infelicities of the translation of the "Cadre School" memoir, calling Barmé sloppy compared to Goldblatt. Still, I find Barmé to have captured Yang Jiang's voice, which is perhaps of more interest to the reader than syntax and semantics.
January 25, 2020
This is a memoir about re-education camp modeled after a famous "Six Chapters of Floating Life". About that time in Chinese history when people from the cities were sent down to the country to learn from the peasants. The peasants were illiterate, impoverished, miserable people who ate twigs and grass and couldn't read nor write. You should read between the lines when you read this book, because at the first blush the re-education camps do not seem that horrible. Well, sure food is terrible, there is no privacy in the bathrooms (so you use other people as a curtain while taking a shit), locals steal from you and the work may be monotonous but not strenuous. It's almost like a scout camp with Chinese characteristics... Well, read between the lines. I'm not going to spell it out (I also think it pretty obvious.)
"You eat vegetables bought at the market. Why plant them?" Peasant logic - I can steal vegetables form 'city-slickers' vegetable patch because, they can buy them at the market.
Little Runner (name of the dog) - O MY GOD. I don't know what happened to the dog but I'm pretty sure it was eaten and I think it was the best for Little Runner.
The description how peasant used dogs like live diapers and what they fed those dogs (I think you can get the idea from the adjective "live") was terrifying. Also, I was not sure they were not so eager as to have something more electable than their usual viands (book tells us nothing about it, however I have my doubts.)
A must-read for every wanna-be fledgling communist.
This is one of those rare books that stays for you for a long time (I'm pretty sure it has something to do that she was playwright and literary critic.)) There is something poignant and also very optimistic about it. There are scenes that you will remember for a long time and for me it's the best indication that this is the book worth reading . Food for thought, as the saying goes (but I must warn you don't eat when reading a chapter about Little runner.)
P.S. Translated and annotated by Djang Chudi - this is a perfect translation one could dream of. It felt just like Jiang Yang wrote the book in English herself. There were no cumbersome sentences or phrases with no meaning whatsoever (which is pretty common for books translated from Chinese). And endnotes were absolutely brilliant. I wish every book translated from Chinese was translated like this one.
"You eat vegetables bought at the market. Why plant them?" Peasant logic - I can steal vegetables form 'city-slickers' vegetable patch because, they can buy them at the market.
Little Runner (name of the dog) - O MY GOD. I don't know what happened to the dog but I'm pretty sure it was eaten and I think it was the best for Little Runner.
The description how peasant used dogs like live diapers and what they fed those dogs (I think you can get the idea from the adjective "live") was terrifying. Also, I was not sure they were not so eager as to have something more electable than their usual viands (book tells us nothing about it, however I have my doubts.)
A must-read for every wanna-be fledgling communist.
This is one of those rare books that stays for you for a long time (I'm pretty sure it has something to do that she was playwright and literary critic.)) There is something poignant and also very optimistic about it. There are scenes that you will remember for a long time and for me it's the best indication that this is the book worth reading . Food for thought, as the saying goes (but I must warn you don't eat when reading a chapter about Little runner.)
P.S. Translated and annotated by Djang Chudi - this is a perfect translation one could dream of. It felt just like Jiang Yang wrote the book in English herself. There were no cumbersome sentences or phrases with no meaning whatsoever (which is pretty common for books translated from Chinese). And endnotes were absolutely brilliant. I wish every book translated from Chinese was translated like this one.
Want to read
January 25, 2020A distinguished playwright who published this elegiac memoir ["A Cadre School Life"] about her experiences in the countryside during the Cultural Revolution with her scholar husband Qian Zhongshu.
[I am dubious whether this Six Chapters book is the same as her Cadre School Life...]
They had great respect for Simon Leys [French-speaking Belgian scholar whose real name was Pierre Ryckmans] : "He spoke out on our behalf when others were silent."
From Geremie R Barmé's 2018 NYR review of a biography of his teacher :
"Simon Leys: Navigator between Worlds", by Philippe Paquet
[I am keeping this review in my book of Lu Xun stories]
[I am dubious whether this Six Chapters book is the same as her Cadre School Life...]
They had great respect for Simon Leys [French-speaking Belgian scholar whose real name was Pierre Ryckmans] : "He spoke out on our behalf when others were silent."
From Geremie R Barmé's 2018 NYR review of a biography of his teacher :
"Simon Leys: Navigator between Worlds", by Philippe Paquet
[I am keeping this review in my book of Lu Xun stories]
February 24, 2024
It's always difficult to review non fiction books as there is always a level of feeling as if you are passing judgement on a person's life and their decisions. With this one, based during China's cultural evolution, the authors decisions are basically taken away from her.
I felt a little let down, I wanted more. She writes with a level of understanding and forgiveness and a deep desire to survive but I just wanted more and maybe she was unable to offer more.
I felt a little let down, I wanted more. She writes with a level of understanding and forgiveness and a deep desire to survive but I just wanted more and maybe she was unable to offer more.
December 23, 2019
作者用平实的语言，叙述着那段灰暗的岁月里，她和周围人平凡的生活。
干校的生活很苦，但“六记”中看不到悲观情绪，更没有哭诉、抱怨。如聊家常一般，默存、小趋等，尽娓娓道来。
我承认自己看不下这本书。记得有一回在食堂吃面时，似乎读到哪里，便由心理而生理地一起恶心到了。 作者的生活态度确是值得学习的。透过她的文字中，仿佛看到这样一个人，任尔风吹雨打，仍只是静静立着，淡然着，一切尽在世中，又仿佛看透世事。 在那一场浩劫中，数不尽的知识分子无辜躺枪，进了干校、牛棚。《三体》中也有过描写。但杨绛也未如叶文洁一般消极避世，而是选择了积极乐观的心态。 她身边的人，活着，然后，尽皆离去。唯有她，以百岁之龄，嘴角挂着笑意，看尽人世沧桑。
干校的生活很苦，但“六记”中看不到悲观情绪，更没有哭诉、抱怨。如聊家常一般，默存、小趋等，尽娓娓道来。
我承认自己看不下这本书。记得有一回在食堂吃面时，似乎读到哪里，便由心理而生理地一起恶心到了。 作者的生活态度确是值得学习的。透过她的文字中，仿佛看到这样一个人，任尔风吹雨打，仍只是静静立着，淡然着，一切尽在世中，又仿佛看透世事。 在那一场浩劫中，数不尽的知识分子无辜躺枪，进了干校、牛棚。《三体》中也有过描写。但杨绛也未如叶文洁一般消极避世，而是选择了积极乐观的心态。 她身边的人，活着，然后，尽皆离去。唯有她，以百岁之龄，嘴角挂着笑意，看尽人世沧桑。
May 2, 2020
Asi jsem od knihy čekal trochu větší "výpověď". Příběhy mi přišly bez pointy. Chápu, nebo se aspoň o to snažím, tíživou situaci Kulturní revoluce. I tak mi ta kniha přišla slabší. Zachránil ji v podstatě až doslov Olgy Lomové. Kdyby byl uveden jako úvod do knihy, asi bych z ní měl lepší pocit. Příště zkusím knihu Čtyři knihy, kterou Olga Lomová zmiňuje.
June 18, 2025
讀的牛津版，多了三篇文，還算不錯。不同於其他經歷過文革的中國文人回憶錄，楊絳在回憶其與自己的丈夫錢鐘書在幹校「勞動改造」期間的回憶錄更加平和，讀起來就像是在回憶下鄉時的農家生活… 當然沒有太多的樂趣，更多的還是苦。在文革結束之後，楊絳於80年代寫下《幹校六記》，她的文字讀起來沒有指控罪責的想法，對於時局的哀嘆也只是簡略袒露在最後一篇的末尾——說到底，還是因為夫妻倆太愛國了。記得楊絳在得知回京的「老弱病殘」名單中沒有預想到的錢的時候，曾深感不公，懊悔問他，有沒有後悔解放前夕做出的決定（像當時絕大多數知識分子那樣離開中國去海外定居生活）。可錢還是堅定回答會留在大陸，即使他已經歷深重苦難，已知自己的命運在文革中浮沈，他還是不會後悔自己做出的選擇。文革不該被洗白，更不該被視為對社會有貢獻的歷史階段。
April 4, 2018
Kniha je zajímavá, ale dokáži si představit, jak moc ji ubral překlad na kvalitě. S tím se bohužel nedá nic dělat..
August 23, 2020
寫實的記錄 有很多細節還是不懂
September 6, 2020
印象最深刻的还是那只叫小趋的小狗。
Read
March 5, 2022原以为会接触一段触目惊心的历史，做好无脑愤怒的准备，结果却是哀而不伤的生活闲记，轻描淡写但更让人不忍，啧啧
October 29, 2022
真摯，足以。
December 31, 2022
读完《干校六记》。满满的感人至深，发自肺腑的真情实感，却又淡然豁达。从骨肉分离，讲到夜里寻路，从巡夜防偷菜到厕所收集大粪。从狗的痴情到人的自杀。他们真的如文中所说不后悔吗？
October 8, 2025
i know this book is purposefully subtle, and i can appreciate that, but i also wanted more from it.
August 11, 2015
“We had been sent to cadre school to work and had nothing to do, but it was forbidden to leave.”
First published in 1982, A Cadre School Life: Six Chapters is Yang Jiang’s account of the two years she and her husband Qian Zhongshu spent in the reform camps established for intellectuals in China during the Cultural Revolution. The structure of the book is based on the Chinese classic Six Chapters on a Floating Life, a ‘connubial-biography’ that is only significant for being a record of early 19th century gender inequality (apparently Qian Zhongshu dislikes this book too, as he notes in the forward to his wife’s memoir). Anyway, Yang Jiang’s writing is well worth reading, both for being one of the few published accounts of life in a cadre school and for the strength and subtlety of her writing. In depicting her life in the cadre school, where she overseas a vegetable garden and participates in political reeducation, she highlights the school’s sheer waste of human resources and the oppressiveness of the its anti-bourgeois teachings without condemning the forces that sent her there. Although Yang Jiang refrains from outright condemnation, one has the sense, when she writes at the end of the memoir, “those years provided me with a rare and unforgettable experience,” that hers is an experience she wishes had never befallen her or the twenty million other Chinese intellectuals sent to reformation camps during that time.
First published in 1982, A Cadre School Life: Six Chapters is Yang Jiang’s account of the two years she and her husband Qian Zhongshu spent in the reform camps established for intellectuals in China during the Cultural Revolution. The structure of the book is based on the Chinese classic Six Chapters on a Floating Life, a ‘connubial-biography’ that is only significant for being a record of early 19th century gender inequality (apparently Qian Zhongshu dislikes this book too, as he notes in the forward to his wife’s memoir). Anyway, Yang Jiang’s writing is well worth reading, both for being one of the few published accounts of life in a cadre school and for the strength and subtlety of her writing. In depicting her life in the cadre school, where she overseas a vegetable garden and participates in political reeducation, she highlights the school’s sheer waste of human resources and the oppressiveness of the its anti-bourgeois teachings without condemning the forces that sent her there. Although Yang Jiang refrains from outright condemnation, one has the sense, when she writes at the end of the memoir, “those years provided me with a rare and unforgettable experience,” that hers is an experience she wishes had never befallen her or the twenty million other Chinese intellectuals sent to reformation camps during that time.
Want to read
January 25, 2020Revised and expanded version of Yang's memoir. 1989
Out of print.
A distinguished playwright who published this elegiac memoir ["A Cadre School Life"] about her experiences in the countryside during the Cultural Revolution with her scholar husband Qian Zhongshu.
They had great respect for Simon Leys [French-speaking Belgian scholar whose real name was Pierre Ryckmans] : "He spoke out on our behalf when others were silent."
From Geremie R Barmé's 2018 NYR review of a biography of his teacher :
"Simon Leys: Navigator between Worlds", by Philippe Paquet
[I am keeping this review in my book of Lu Xun stories]
Out of print.
A distinguished playwright who published this elegiac memoir ["A Cadre School Life"] about her experiences in the countryside during the Cultural Revolution with her scholar husband Qian Zhongshu.
They had great respect for Simon Leys [French-speaking Belgian scholar whose real name was Pierre Ryckmans] : "He spoke out on our behalf when others were silent."
From Geremie R Barmé's 2018 NYR review of a biography of his teacher :
"Simon Leys: Navigator between Worlds", by Philippe Paquet
[I am keeping this review in my book of Lu Xun stories]
March 20, 2007
The true story of an intellectual and her husband sent to cadre schools during the Cultural Revolution. It's a sharp criticism of the nonsensical events and human mistreatment without a single outwardly negative statement. Simply written but clear, heartfelt and offering a unique perspective on the Cultural Revolution filled with a quiet inner strength and love for family.
November 14, 2016
this translation is good for us, who are majoring in chinese literature studies. and by this version, we can see the true historical backgrounds in Yang's "Wen Ge" period(1966-1976). the translator's rendition is vivid in language and faithful in content.
February 23, 2014
She is one of my most favorite authors, a master of Chinese language, always writing in simple but soul-touching style.
November 13, 2016
transaltor has done a good job, keeping the sipirit of the original from Yang.
November 14, 2016
the translation of G.H. is very good, which is helpful in the readers' understanding of the "Wen Ge" in Yang's time.
January 6, 2017
据说，希望的事，迟早会实现的，但实现的希望，总是变了味的……改造十多年，再加上干校两年，且说人人企求的进步我没有取得，就连我自己这份私心，也没有减少些。我还是依然故我
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 4, 2018
grim and powerful. history should be respected and reflected.
November 17, 2018
杨先生回忆文革期间种菜，看电影种种。回忆起来的苦都是甜了，可是在吃的苦总还是苦的。
June 20, 2019
在那样一个时代，在这样一个社会，记录一对老年人应对生活的点点滴滴。作者没有批判什么，仅仅是记录。但把这些记录下来，正是真正的历史。
July 3, 2020
平实地写那个荒唐的年代
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