Appendix—
Interview Protocol

1. Name, telephone number, address

2. Sex

3. Marital status, children

4. Date of birth, place of birth

5. Home (jiguan )

6. Occupation, educational level of parents

7. Have you or any of your siblings had difficulties with the authorities?

8. When did you come to Hong Kong? Legally or illegally? Why did you leave China?

9. What have you been doing for a living since you left school?

10. Educational level

11. Family background (jiating chushen ), individual class status (geren chengfen )

12. Party member? Red Guard? Cadre? What rank? Other political organizations?

13. Basic unit situation: (a) What was the conduct of the Party members? What was the proportion of good members to bad ones? (b) What was the conduct (biaoxian ) of Communist Youth League (CYL) members, and what was the proportion of good ones to bad ones? (c) Activists? (d) The "four category elements" (si lei fenzi : renegades, spies, capitalist-roaders, purged cadres)?

14. What in your view is the "mass line"? (a) Do the masses really play a role in the mass line? More or less of a role after the Cultural Revolution than before? (b) Did the existing units more or less understand the mass line? When it was not understood did this often create contradictions? Give examples.

15. What was your view of the unit leadership? What was your attitude (taidu )? (a) Did the basic unit leadership behave differently before and after the Cultural Revolution, and if so, how? (b) Were the masses clear about the powers and sphere of competence of the leaders? Were there occasions when the leader exceeded his/her powers? Would this create friction with the masses? (c) Did the leaders play different roles before and after the Cultural Revolution? (d) What was the difference in the masses' attitudes toward the leaders before and after the Cultural Revolution? (e) Did your own attitude toward the central leaders change during the Cultural Revolution? Why? (f) If you were a central leader, would you do things differently? How?

16. Mao Zedong said that the purpose of the Cultural Revolution was not merely to purge the revisionists, but to transform people's thinking. Do you think that Mao Zedong had a way of changing people's thinking? (a) What thoughts did he want to change, and why? (b) Do you think his method of changing people's thinking was effective? Why or why not?

17. Did you participate in the Cultural Revolution? In what capacity? (a) Did the Cultural Revolution succeed? If so, why, and if not, why not? (b) Did you once have hopes for the Cultural Revolution? If so, what did you hope for? (c) Were you ever disappointed (shiwang ) in the Cultural Revolution? If so, when? What caused you to lose hope?

18. What was the difference between political study (zhengzhi xuexi ) before and after the Cultural Revolution? (a) Was there more or less political study before and after the Cultural Revolution? Was the time period stipulated? (b) What was the attitude of the masses toward political study before and after the Cultural Revolution (i.e., how did it change)? Why? (c) What was the general procedure for political study? Were specific materials assigned for each study meeting? Which materials? Did the procedure change during campaigns, and if so, how? How about "Living Study and Living Use of Mao Zedong's Thought" meetings? (d) Did the unit leadership more heavily emphasize the transformation of people's thinking after than before the Cultural Revolution? If so, how?

19. What was the general procedure in criticism and struggle meetings (pipan douzheng dahui )? (a) What was the procedure and overall atmosphere in small unit criticism and struggle meetings? (b) What about large unit (e.g., brigade, commune) criticism and struggle meetings? Please give examples, specifying time, place, persons, and situation. (c) Who spoke in criticism and struggle meetings? Were there spontaneous speakers, or were the speakers previously selected (zhidingde )? What proportion? What was the background of the speakers—masses? activists? cadres? other?

20. What were the consequences for those within the unit who made mistakes? (a) Who decided whether a person had made a mistake? Was there ever any controversy or discussion before deciding that a person had made a mistake? Any difference between the pre- and post-Cultural Revolution situation in that regard? (b) After deciding that a person had made a mistake, what types of meetings were held? (c) In the meeting at which the person's mistake was discussed, was the mistake accurately characterized? Was it distorted or exaggerated? (d) After the person making a mistake had made a self-criticism, how was it decided whether his self-criticism was acceptable? Who decided?

21. Were you personally ever criticized? Were the criticisms just? (a) Aside from your mistake, were there other reasons why you were criticized? For example, because your class background was not good, or because of different ideological views? If not, what was the reason for your being targeted? (b) Were you unfairly treated otherwise? If so, for what reason? How did you react? Did you speak out (fayan ), and if so, with what results? (c) To whom did you usually express your complaints? Beyond complaining, did you and the people who agreed with you use any other means of expressing your feelings? Did you take any action? If so, with what results?

22. What sort of people were activists in your unit? (a) What was their class background and character (xingge )? What role did the activists play in work? in study? What was their relation with the masses? (b) Do you think the masses were truly an advance guard (xianjin fenzi )? How could you tell? (c) What was the difference between activists before and after the Cultural Revolution (if any)? How do you account for it?

23. What is the difference between class struggle and line struggle? What about factional struggle? (a) Why does Mao Zedong encourage people to struggle? Do you think struggle can transform people's thoughts? (b) Does it transform the thoughts of those who are criticized or struggled against? Sincerely? (c) Does it transform the thoughts of those who participate in mass criticism or struggle? (d) Did it transform your thoughts? Did it change your attitude toward struggle? (e) Did class struggle in your unit function to promote production? How did production proceed before struggle, and how did this change in the course of struggle? Cite examples. (f) Did struggle become more frequent and intense in the course of the Cultural Revolution decade, and if so, why? (g) What would be the result if there were no struggle?

24. How was the reconciliation of struggle (tuanjie ) conducted after the Cultural Revolution? How did this compare with the pre-Cultural Revolution modus operandi? (a) How was reconciliation conducted between units, between cadres, between cadres and masses, among the masses, among Party members, between Party members and masses? How did this compare with before the Cultural Revolution? (b) After the target of struggle had corrected his/ her mistakes, did the unit masses and leadership still have a bad impression, or was this improved?

25. Was there factional struggle in your unit? How many factions? Did you participate in any faction? What proportion of the unit participated? (a) Generally speaking, did the factions have an internal structure or leadership? What kind of people participated in factions? Why? (b) Have factions always been present? At what times did factions generally arise? Why? (c) After the conflict had been resolved, did factionalism persist, or dissipate? When did personal interest override factional commitment? When did organizational discipline override factional commitment?

26. Do you think equalitarianism is a necessary component of socialism? (a) Do you think equalitarianism became more pronounced because of the Cultural Revolution? If so, why? (b) Did equalitarianism become yet more pronounced in the 1968–76 period?

27. Why do you think Mao Zedong emphasized "politics takes command"? (a) Did you discuss politics more after the Cultural Revolution than before? With whom did you talk? Why did you talk with those persons rather than someone else? (b) When discussing political questions, did you often get into debates over ideological issues? What were the results of these debates? (c) When discussing politics did you discuss central politics or unit affairs more? (d) After the Cultural Revolution did you come to a better understanding of the political situation outside your unit?

28. Do you remember when the first big-character poster appeared in your unit? How did you feel—happy? puzzled? opposed? Why? Did you help write it?

Why not? Did you later post any big-character posters? Why? (a) In your opinion, what did Liu Shaoqi represent? During and after the Cultural Revolution, did your feelings about Liu Shaoqi change? (b) What do you now think of Lin Biao? Do you believe the "September 13" (1971) incident was real? Did the Lin Biao affair affect your belief in socialist ideals? (c) Do you think Lin Biao had any relation to Confucius? Is there any relation between Zhou Enlai and Confucius? Do you personally have any feelings for Confucius? Did the movement to criticize Lin Biao and Confucius affect your opinion of Confucius? (d) Why was Song Jiang, of Water Margin , targeted for criticism? What did Song Jiang represent? (e) What do you think is the meaning of "going against the current"? Is there any difference between "going against the current" (fan chaoliu ) and "reactionary" (fandong )? What? Do you think going against the current is a good thing? Were there more who dared go against the current after the Cultural Revolution than before? Were you acquainted with anyone who went against the current? What was the result? (f) When did you learn of the Zhang Tiesheng matter? What were your feelings at the time? Now? If you had been in Zhang's position in 1973 what would you have done? (g) What are "bourgeois rights"? What do you think of them? What sort of people have bourgeois rights? How does one get the power to have such rights? Do you think it is fair for some people to have privileges? Why or why not? When is it right for those who have privileges to utilize bourgeois rights? If people abuse bourgeois rights, how should the masses react?

29. Did you participate in any of the following campaigns: the Criticism of Lin Biao and Confucius, the Anti-Bourgeois Rights, the Criticism of Water Margin and Song Jiang, Going against the Current, or the Oppose the Rightist Reversal of Just Verdicts campaigns? (a) What did these campaigns have in common with the Cultural Revolution (1966–68), and how did they differ? (b) Did a work team come to your unit to help mobilize the masses? Who sent them? What was the main task they performed? (c) Did these campaigns have any impact on your relations with the masses, or with the leadership? (d) Was anyone in your unit made a criticism target in any of these campaigns? How and when were targets selected for mass criticism or struggle? Who decided? What were the main errors for which they were criticized? (e) Were these movements more or less effective than the Cultural Revolution in transforming people's thinking? Why?

30. Do you have any personal experience with "taking the back door"? (a) Did most people know who practiced taking the back door? What was the general attitude toward them? What was your attitude? (b) What sort of people most often took the back door? (c) Why do you think that sort of phenomenon (viz., taking the back door) occurred? (d) Did any of the campaigns mentioned above reduce the incidence of taking the back door? (e) Do you know of anyone who used the back door to get into college, a factory job, or into a bureaucratic position, was then criticized on that account and sent back to the original unit? What do you think would have to be done to finally eliminate the phenomenon of taking the back door?

31. Are you an educated youth who participated in "up to the mountains and

down to the countryside"? What is your opinion of the latter? (a) If you participated, did the experience change your attitude about work or about working people? If so, why did you leave the place to which you were sent? (b) Upon returning to the city (daoliu ), how did one earn a living? What was your experience? (c) What impact did those flowing back to the city have on the sent-down youth remaining in the countryside?

32. How was the rehabilitation of cadres handled after the Cultural Revolution? (a) How did "liberated" cadres prove that they had rectified their mistakes? (b) How was one able to determine the authenticity (zhenshixing ) of cadre rectification? (c) Did you personally resolutely hate "four category elements"? What was your attitude once they had been liberated?

33. Did you ever participate in a May 7 Cadre School? (a) Did cadres in such schools frequently participate in manual labor? (b) After the Cultural Revolution, did your branch implement "open door rectification" (kaimen zhengfeng )? With what results? (c) Did having gone to a May 7 Cadre School or experienced rectification transform your attitude toward the masses or toward manual labor? If so, how; if not, why not?

34. Did you ever participate in a strike? How did such a phenomenon come about? Did the leadership participate? Why? (a) Did you have any experience with slow-down strikes (daigong )? Why did the slow-down occur? What was the context? (b) Did you participate in labor unrest (saodong ) or riots? In what context? (c) Is there any relationship between strikes, slow-down strikes, or unrest and mass movements?

35. What do you think of the purge of the "Gang of Four"? (a) Do you think the Gang wanted to transform people's thinking? Were they successful or ineffective in doing so? Why? (b) Do you think Hua Guofeng tried to use another method to change people's thinking? Why? With what results? (c) Mao Zedong once said that every seven or eight years there will be a Cultural Revolution. Do you think so? If so, under what circumstances do you think another Cultural Revolution is likely to occur?

36. Did you often feel uneasy after the Cultural Revolution? Why? Because of politics? Because you were personally criticized or struggled against? Because you were unable to adapt to the post-Cultural Revolution environment? Or for other reasons?