The Lost Generation: The Rustication of China's Educated Youth (1968-1980)

摘要

Between 1962 and 1980, around 17.9 million zhiqing - educated or "sent down" youth - were dispatched to the countryside and border regions. During much of this period, urban youth were expected to transform themselves into peasants and spend the rest of their lives in rural China. In fact, many had already returned before Mao's death but from 1977 on, returns turned into a flood. By the end of 1980 only around a million still remained in the countryside. Bonnin estimates that the average term of service in the countryside was six years.