香港职业学校 SOVHK, Tai Kok Tsui. Mongkok, Kowloon (2026)

03/01/2022

OBITUARY: CAO ZHENG LU
JOHN P. HOLT
3.1.2022

I have learned today that the great writer, Cao Zenglu passed on during the holiday break. A Proletarian Communist who dedicated his life to self and society during which time he exemplified the beauty of the integrated cultural outlook of the working class in his singular style that came to be known as ‘Low Level Literature’.

I had already written out my tears before I realised the eulogy from Comrade Li Minqi whom I had made a comparison to, in likeness of, anti thesis and thesis. That is attached.

My words serve to camouflage my deep loss felt and for my gratitude for the leveling and critical affect of Teacher Cao has had on me. The words do nothing more and so I urge you read what a Comrade of science and economics of privilege and comparative youth who has conducted his like with equal realisation has said of a worker engineer professional revolutionary, teacher and revered scholar from the anti privilege of the proletarian.

I cannot write as I prefer as my pages of paper are soaked with realisation of the passing that is always all to frequent of the most celebrated generation of cultural excellence represented by all forms and classes in the visual and performance arts that arose during a golden period of honest cultural adaptation and origination in the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. The Comrades that are not supposed to exist as we are told by the effeminate and ephemeral that we wish would no longer exist as their ignorance is exposed to such an extent that all they serve to do is annoy.

Teacher Cao’s contribution is a diametrical opposition to the biggest detractors and I believe quite the lack of any inspiration in return. Certainly the characterisation the Comrade, his life and work is contextualised to the Scar Writings, that are nonsensically and mistakenly characterised as an expression of some form of proletarian art rebellion in respite of the bad bad period of cultural desertification that is a pure fabrication of the character of the 3 years of the Cultural Revolution in rectification of the revolutionary context of the Communist Party that had been infiltrated and sent off its trajectory course by the sedition and terrorism of the reflection within the party of the will and desire and interests of the Chinese capitalist class.

Teacher Cao exemplified the GPCR.

Editor's note:
2021 Nian 12 Yue 28 Ri

PROFESSOR CAO ZHENGLU, TEACHER HAS DIED AT THE AGE OF 72 YEARS.

Teacher Cao Zhenglu was born in Shanghai in September 1949. He has worked as a farmer, soldier, worker and government official. He is the representative writer of the "low-level literature" thought in the new century on the mainland, and has authored such popular works as "There", "Neon", and "Ask the Boundless". Teacher Cao Zhenglu has always maintained the position of the working class and stood upright as the backbone of intellectuals.

Upon learning that life is coming to an end, Teacher Cao said, "I am in the same mood as usual, and there is not much change. I have no fear of death, on the contrary I still yearn for it. I have done the task of life like this, and I am worthy of my conscience, so there is no change. Regret." At the end of life, there is no regret, no fear, no shame, how many people are there in the world?

The old article posted today is Teacher Cao’s personal experience, and it is also a different kind of educated youth memory from Scar Literature. This article and many other works of Teacher Cao have opened up a new perspective for us to re-understand the red age.

When the scar literary narrative took a lofty attitude and rightly described the educated youth's going to the countryside as "suffering" and "wrongful", Teacher Cao asked another question: "If you don't have personal experience in the countryside, how can you understand the peasants?" If we don’t understand the peasants, how can we understand the revolution? Why do we urban scholars think that we are higher than them? Why do we receive preferential treatment and think that we are suffering?” In fact, it is not the educated youth experience itself that denies the educated youth. It is the reformed college entrance examination system. This college entrance examination system only focuses on basic knowledge and zeros out all the practical contributions of educated youth in rural areas.

With this article, I would like to cherish the memory of Teacher Cao Zhenglu!

CLASSROOM IS NOT IN SCHOOL

After the Spring Festival in 1967, the city I was in suddenly became deserted. The “rebel line” characterized by the manipulation of the masses by the party committee’s working group has been broken, and the “white terror” that targeted the majority of teachers and students has disappeared. The college entrance examination is even more impossible, for ordinary middle school students there seems to be nothing to do. I was 18 years old that year, in my second year of high school, and I had just entered a period of confusion in my life.

At that time, the People's Liberation Army had begun to support the left. The most sought-after star of the students was the People's Liberation Army around him. "A red star is worn on the head, and the red flag of the revolution is hung on both sides."

The highest head of our city is the deputy political commissar of a certain ministry. He came to the school for a discussion and made the students excited in a few words. He said: “It’s nothing if you don’t go to class. You can meet the world through wind and rain, educate yourself, and the real classroom is never in school.” He called the classmates who actively participate in sports and intervene in society as Jing Fengyu, connecting those who go out in series. The classmates on the Long March are called "Meet the World", and what is more encouraged is to encourage everyone to study engineering and agriculture, and truly go deep into the lower classes of society to understand China. Although he only graduated from a middle school, his level of thought is extremely high. In my opinion, his academic qualifications and mind are far above that of most experts and professors today.

Later, the classmates in our school were actually divided into three groups, some of them engaged in sports, some of them ceased to engage in military training, and some of them were organized into various academic, engineering, academic, and agricultural groups.

Looking back today, he not only resolved the prevailing spiritual crisis at the time, but also made me experience an old revolutionary world-view methodology.

For ordinary people, the upper echelon is too far away from us after all. The method of focusing on a few leading cadres to understand history is unreliable, and it is often said by the hearsay. It is irresponsible to use personal grievances as a criterion for choosing a position and judging history, and it is often useless to save others by oneself. The real historical logic lies in the majority of the population. From a long-term perspective, who benefits and who suffers, and who policies serve are the keys to our research on history.

History is not a little girl who can be dressed up. It has something to do with most people's emotions.

"BEING A CADRE SUFFERS A LOSS"

I participated in a copper mining academic team. Responsible for receiving us is a member of the mine’s temporary leadership team, a ZF leader. On the same day, we received work clothes and rubber boots. We were so excited that we also borrowed the bells and lanterns caps to take a group photo. This head is actually a few years older than us. He is a bit stuttered and looks tired and yawns. He came to receive us right after the night shift.

He said: "When a cadre suffers, I can't even sleep." He asked him why he suffered? He replied: "You can't do much better than a worker, who will let you control?"

Later, I learned that he had graduated from technical secondary school and studied mining. It didn't take long for him to catch up with the Cultural Revolution. At first he was an active member of the working group and was often scheduled to speak at the conference. Later, it was revealed that he was listed as "internal control" by the working group because of his family background , so he participated in the rebellion. At that time, he was a bachelor. He went down to work as a tunneler at night, and worked as a cadre in his office during the day. He still had a little prestige in the mine.

At that time, one of his small wishes could not be realized, that is, to win the "single man and two machines" excavation technology expert. He said: "I don't accept it, but I can't do them. I really don't accept it!" He was referring to the old workers, who had achieved higher targets than he had accomplished every month, and he was young and strong.

After we went down the well, we naturally knew that an M56 rock drill plus a pneumatic support would cost more than 120 kilograms. It would consume a lot of physical effort to drill with such equipment for several hours. In order to improve efficiency, some workers use two machines at the same time. The physical and technical requirements are definitely higher. At the beginning, several of us couldn't stabilize a machine, let alone "single person and two machines".

In the pit, in the dispatch room, various "good news" and "honor rolls" are often posted , recording the little pride of the workers secretly competing. This is what he struggles with, and he longs for his own name to be genuine one day.

Glory of labor is the ethos of that era. When a leader has to pass the labor barrier first, he will only play tricks and fail to win the support of the masses. In the several factories and mines I have visited, the ZF styles are all wearing work clothes with calluses on their hands. Later, the ZF style of propagating Zhongyou head powder noodles does not conform to the basic logic of life. Even during the period of armed conflict between the two factions, there was no word of strikes affecting the water, electricity, and postal traffic.

Of course, working harder does not mean that he has a high salary. He spends day and night working in the mine, and his salary is not as good as a fourth-level worker. The only difference is that I ate an extra health ticket, which is 25 cents. Going down to the well is to deliver meals uniformly. He is a full-time cadre, and naturally he also has to eat when working with his class. From this perspective, he also suffers.

In 1974, I returned from the demobilization of the army and I ran into him once. He has gained a lot and is already the father of two children. He said, "I have been rebelling for half a year and censored me for two and a half years. If you say something of conscience, don't you lose?"

Another impressive person is the establishment, the young deputy secretary of the party committee of the mine, and the first cadre to be defeated by the working group to break through the anti-capital line. When we saw him in the well, his black face remained silent all day long. When someone introduced him as # # # , he nodded. There is nothing to say about his work. He was already a "single person with two computers". He was originally a provincial model worker, so it was reasonable for the old party committee to train him to use him in the working group.

After the shot is shot, the shot is shot, and after the shot is shot, the "head-on" cleaning is performed . This is the entire process of roadway excavation. In this process, the gunner is responsible for safety. We found that as long as he was on the scene, he was often the one who guarded the crossing of the tunnel, and the gunners also obeyed him. He sat on a sleeper and smoked, with enough cannon sounds, he moved the sleeper and left. If there were not enough numbers, the gunner would come over and analyze with him whether it was possible to mute the gun, and he waved the gunner back to the "head-on". The whole process was still silent, and he was rarely heard. In fact, he complained and was not convinced.

Some of our classmates originally wanted to criticize his stubborn resistance, but later I saw that he was also spent day and night in the mine and did not go home, so our views changed a bit. He goes down during the day and mixes on the bench outside the mine dispatcher at night. The dispatching room is the production center of the whole mine. After the ZF group seized power, the original incumbent stood aside, but the engineers were still there, so the operation was normal. When the dispatch meeting was held, he usually didn't speak, but he didn't leave. He just stayed there, and later became one of them. This state is very ambiguous, no one recognized him, but in fact he exists.

Working in the underground, regardless of family, nonsense, no old and young, lying down and sitting together huddled together. After a long time, he can talk to us a few words, and over and over again all have the same meaning: he was originally a worker, he is not rare to be a cadre, and he can't make a man . If he talked too much, the old worker would scold him like a maiden, which shows that his inner pressure is still great.

His fate was reversed three months later. A revolutionary committee was established in the mine to engage in the "three combinations", and he was the first revolutionary cadre to combine. In this way, he left the center of power for less than half a year. The ZF faction said that this guy can't beat him, but he can be repaired. When asked why, there is still such a story: In 1962 , during the national economic adjustment period, the mine streamlined workers and returned to the countryside. At that time, he was already the deputy secretary. He took the lead in "delegating" his wife. His wife is still in the mine family team. Stones.

Five or six years have passed since this matter, and the masses have not forgotten that they voted for him. I still remember his tearful look at the meeting. He said: "Compared with the pre-liberation period, I am already living in the sky. I don't care about being a cadre. I will not forget my roots. What I care about is that people don't recognize me as a brother..." According to our life experience at that time, He was really moved.

After I joined the army, I went to several cities and participated in a short period of support. The situation was similar everywhere. Those cadres who really worked hard and dared to take responsibility, and those cadres who did not divorce themselves from the masses, were the first batch of cadres. Participate in the "Three Combinations". What the masses see is not whether you make mistakes or your attitude, but whether you have a conscience or forget your roots. On the contrary, those cadres who have not been "liberated" mostly have dirty buttocks, no matter how they see the wind.

"Uncomfortable"

I went to the countryside to jump in in October 1968. The place where I settled was close to the mountainous area. It was relatively poor, and the work points were only a few cents. This is our own choice, thinking that it is glorious to go to a poor place to change the world. At that time, the imagination of the countryside was very romantic, and the understanding of poverty was too simplistic.

The captain came to discuss with us about writing Chairman Mao's quotations the next day. What's the matter? Just write it. But the captain babbled and did not leave for a long time, his face flushed. He said it's hard to be a man, and a word that was arranged by the commune should be half a person tall. He asked if he could write a little bit smaller? What's the matter, we think it’s funny, write as big as you want, and write as small as you want. Then he said, awkward, how much paint do you need to buy for writing such a big handwriting? It will cost dozens of them all at once. Only then did he understand that he was reluctant to buy paint. After a discussion, we decided to write chalk on the blackboard at the entrance of the village. Unexpectedly, this incident shocked several production teams, and they all came to see how we did it. Not because of the good writing, but because of how we dare to write like this. Later, when the commune arrived, no one came to realize that it was a rumor that the educated youth who jumped in the line were all Red Guards. Too backward in this regard was to rebel. The cadre of the commune said, didn’t you want to apply the red paint? Just swipe it. In fact, the red ocean in the city is just a gust of wind for a few people, and it has nothing to do with the educated youth.

At that time, the educated youth jumped in the queue was considered to be "decentralized." When the rural grassroots cadres saw the educated youth, they regarded them as the people from above , and they were very cautious in speaking and doing things for fear of offending us . A girl is very noble when she wears glasses, and she is considered to be particularly knowledgeable, just like seeing a star today. Until 70 late in the decade, grassroots recruitment to recommend to college, grassroots cadres have the power. Therefore, the random fabrications in scar literature are out of the logic of life, and are not at all the atmosphere of that era.

Also a "man can not do anything" thing to eat. When we first jumped in, we couldn't start the group by ourselves. We had pie, and a few people went to the family to eat for a few days. Even though our families are poor, we still try our best to feed us. It was mainly a dinner. Breakfast was a thick porridge. At noon, it was the crispy rice crust that came out of the dinner the previous day. The farmers themselves fry the porridge left over from the morning in a pot. The dishes are mainly pickles and peppers. If there is a bowl of egg steamed, then a potato soup will be cooked. In the winter season, the main farm work is to open up wasteland and pick up manure. You can imagine how our gluttons squirm.

One day a farmer who was delivering food on a round announced that he would invite us to eat fish tonight. He said that he was cooking the pot and went back to his family's house last night, and her family's house was in the "chetang". There's nothing to eat, it's embarrassing, let the fish come to eat on credit! He yelled at everyone, made all men and women envy him, and made our stomachs growl.

We know that his family who cooks the pot is in the polder area 60 miles away, and one fish is credited 120 miles away. His name is Xiaolan who cooks the pot, and he visited other people's homes in the first two days to see what they gave us. It can be seen that she has been playing drums in her heart. In fact, she is the most enthusiastic woman for us. On the first day we entered the village, we took the hand of the female classmate and looked left and right, boasting endlessly. Later, I learned that she had been the secretary of the township league branch and the white-haired girl at the beginning of the liberation. But at that time she was already the mother of six children, her face was dry and hard, and wrinkles crawled from the corners of her eyes to the corners of her mouth.

As soon as I finished work in the evening, I went straight to his house. The girl even washed her face deliberately, and a few of us boys also washed their hands rarely. As soon as I sat down, the fish was brought up from the washbasin, and it seemed that Xiaolan didn't stop for a minute before catching up with our meal. The fish is fresh silver carp, the flesh is white, green, and steaming. Eat, eat, don’t be a guest, Xiao Lan shouted. Of course we would not be guests, but we only took a bite without saying anything. It's fishy, and the smell is compelling, and a girl almost vomited it out. Only then did I realize that the heat all over the room was also fishy.

It stands to reason that we have been hungry for a long time, and we have been in the queue for more than a month. No matter how bad it is, this is fresh fish. It shouldn't be this kind of reaction. But it is really fishy, and the soil is compelling. Xiaolan's husband was also stunned, and shouted fishy after a bite, saying that it still smelled of bitterness and gall. Xiao Lan looked at us, stunned for a while, slapped her thigh, and rushed out. When she came back, she was holding a large spoonful of lard in her hand. The strange thing is that as soon as the lard was put into the soup, before it was completely melted, the smell changed, turning into a thick fish fragrance.

Eat, eat, only come to life in the house. We quietly discussed that it may be due to the water and soil, or it may be due to insufficient feed and the fish is too thin. No one said anything, only a little bit of lard was missing. I noticed that Xiaolan had been hiding behind the stove and never showed up again. Over the years, this story has been told countless times to relatives and friends, but the meaning is still unfinished.

How can one understand farmers without personal experience in the countryside? If you don't understand the peasants, how can you understand the revolution? We scholars in the city, why do we think we are a higher class than them? Why do you think it is suffering when you receive preferential treatment? My wife also intervened in the team. Her understanding is that the fault lies in not making it clear. If you can go back to the city if you make it clear, everyone should go down. It can be said clearly, how can we share fate with breathing?

"What a big deal"

One day the captain announced that he would rest in the afternoon. In the evening, the male laborer was led by his son to mow the lake. He doesn't say to steal, he says to cut. Our team does not have a lake, where does the lake grass come from? But from their extremely mysterious eyes, we still see the seriousness. Such girls would not agree, so how could they be absent from such an exciting battle? The captain thought about it and agreed. His son said, "It's okay to go, don't be greedy, you have to run for many miles." So I sharpened the sickle, looked for the pole rope, and the captain personally helped a few of us tie the trousers.

To put it bluntly, there is no firewood to burn. At that time, we had eaten separately, and the educated youth didn't have enough firewood. There are hundreds of acres of reeds in the Huwan Commune. They are rich in oil, fishing for shrimps, but our side is reluctant to heat up the water, which is unfair. The pursuit of fairness and justice is a natural aspiration. We don't need book knowledge, we all are gearing up.

After walking for more than a dozen miles, before reaching the lake, I smelled the rotting smell. Around him is a tall reed, and the grass is thin with hoarfrost. We went deep into the reed to mow, and the captain's son confessed that rabbits don't eat grass at the edge of the nest, so don't let people see it. Of course, this is self-deception. People have shaved their diarrhea, and they feel distressed even if one piece is missing. How can they not tell? Although the reed grass is not worth a few dollars, it is the boundary of others after all. The atmosphere was agitated, and there were only rustling sickles and heavy breathing around, no one said a word, and the energy was captured in a blink of an eye.

The captain's son said, "It's almost enough, go ! So, one person and one load, filed out, and rushed to the trail. According to him, as long as we cross the highway, the battle is over. Even if we are overtaken by others, we will be chased for nothing. Can he still call Weizi to agree? But the problem lies in these three miles of trails, in the two girls. Their burden is light, but it can also be one hundred or eighty catties. The reed grass is raised upright, with the kind of rope buckle at the bottom of the pocket, the pole is inserted directly into the grass, and it is picked up without swaying. All of this is correct. Seeing everything and learning everything, it was like that at first. But after all, they are weak, and the straw bundles are not strong enough, and they show themselves halfway through. Especially after being discovered, someone was rushing in the back, the gong banged, the fire shook the flashlight, and the heart beat out. Seeing that the road was on the road, the burden was relieved. The captain's son told them to throw the burden down, and they could just keep up. But they are reluctant. In this way, everyone was crossing the road and they became prisoners.

It was okay at the beginning. I heard that they were educated youths who jumped in line, and they cried loudly. The other party didn't do anything, just yelling to take them back. At this time, a tragic scene appeared, and the captain's son turned back. He said that he was the captain and wanted the other party to release the educated youth, and to kill him by himself. It's such a big deal, don't you just cut a few piles of grass? He said.

People are right to think about it. In this way, the two girls escaped smoothly, one holding a handful of grass in his arms and walking back miserably. As soon as we were on the highway, the screams of the captain's son came from behind. "Ah, oh! You guys are really fighting! Mom, mom, oh, oh, oh!"

His cries were very loud in the middle of the night, and everyone's shoulders twitched with every call. It's already midnight when we dingy back to the team. The next day, the captain came back from the commune and said that it was all right. People heard that it was an educated youth and didn't want to make a big mess. It's just that his son has suffered a bit and is still lying in the hospital.

The lake grass was stolen back and piled on the rice field and no one moved. Originally fighting for fairness and justice, it ended in an unsatisfactory ending, and seemed to be a little embarrassed. The captain didn't take it seriously. He wanted to add some firewood to each family at the end of the year. He went to the commune to guarantee that it was to solve the difficulties of the educated youth and that the Lake Bay Commune would not pursue it, but now it is difficult to change his mind. He didn't regard himself as a hero, so he didn't care if you were a bear. The firewood was still divided later, and no one mentioned it again.

In fact, there are often fights in rural areas, most of which are fighting for land, water, and fat. Various fashionable slogans are also borrowed. WG is no exception. Everyone knows that they are outer packaging. Now some people call the weapon fight as WG crime evidence, only those experts and professors can think of it.

"The Real Big Thing"

As dividends were almost to be paid at the end of the year, a villager suddenly became serious, and even the women's laughter was unnatural. Because we also have to participate in the evaluation of work points, in fact, we have to cut a piece of cake for the production team. A few days earlier, the captain sighed. There is no way, it was arranged by the commune. His son was also regarded as an educated youth in his hometown, and explained to us that this is the real event in the countryside, and everything else is fake.

Regarding the relationship between politics and economy, there are countless theoretical books and countless dazzling titles. In fact, the farmers can make it clear in one sentence: Is n't it just who has the more and who has the less? There is only so much wealth in this world, and all kinds of political opinions have arisen for the sake of possession. As small as a production team, as large as the global economic order, the principles are the same.

The rules for assessing work points are self-reporting and public discussion, and everyone has to say how many points they can assess. At that time, I didn't know the heights of the sky and the land. I felt that the living educated youth who opened up wasteland and picked manure was similar to the old peasants. Boys scored 10 points, and girls were timid and only dared to score 7 points. Now that we think about it, we are just showing that we are capable and that we are already working hard. We should not be underestimated. But farmers don’t think so. They still have to feed their families and lick their horses in a pot. What do others eat if you eat too much? The atmosphere suddenly became tense.

Our captain doesn't look at what we say and can't say enough on weekdays. At this time, the politician style will become stern, and it will be settled. Obviously, those who can score 10 points are all top agriculturalists, and the educated youth obviously can't afford this. He said that the students are young and vigorous, and whether they can score 10 points will be seen next year. This year it is decided. It is enough for boys to give 9 points and girls 8 points, so everyone was happy, and the old farmers also breathed a sigh of relief.

The next step is to open a warehouse, mill rice, and a festive atmosphere. The children are all active, jumping around like a sparrow. It is the autumn late rice that is crushed, and a fragrance of fragrance wafted in the village before it was cooked. The knowledge learned is: the autumn evening is delicious but the yield is low and there is no meal, so local farmers mainly plant indica rice. The rice is divided by population. Each of us is 100 jin, which is the same as total labor, 80 jin for women and 50 jin for children . These rice are said to be eaten until the beginning of spring, plus the rations allocated by the commune before, it is not enough. Fortunately, the educated youth have to go back to the city for the New Year, so they don’t care.

The other is to divide the broken rice bran and divide the firewood. We made it clear that we don't want rice bran. There is no oil and water in our stomachs, so whoever eats it. They said, broken rice bran makes papa, delicious! We won’t eat it too.

We still want the stolen lake grass, the captain decided to give us half, and the rest will be divided equally among households. Thus, a dramatic ceremony appeared. Rice bran and lake grass are divided into dozens of pieces and arranged in a long way. The captain asked, is it all right? It's all said and done. The captain used a fine h**p rope to quickly pull out the rope loops in his hand, and then asked one person from each household to hook the rope buckle. Only then did we understand that it was casting lots, and it was the most convenient way. Then the two hands were rubbed to disrupt the order, and then one person from each household reached out and hooked the button, and then pulled the rope, the order came out, and each family took their own share in order.

Maybe this is not a kind of knowledge, it is a rule that they often use, but it is indeed intriguing. Isn't equality and justice the highest ideal state of mankind? Hasn't mankind paid a tragic price for thousands of years? But in such a barren and remote small gully, people are joking and joking. This is a ritual, but also daily life. It is related to poverty, and more to the most primitive and simple desire of mankind. And the distribution of food cannot be absolutely even. This has to do with needs and ism.

I left the countryside early, but after joining the army, I kept in touch with my friends. Knowing that they later participated in the distribution of various agricultural and sideline products, and even more so, that the so-called value of work points is not all of their income. In the rural areas of that era, most of the income was not realized through transactions, let alone monetization. It is the distribution of goods, labor exchanges, and mutual assistance between family members that support the rural society, which in turn supports the gradual industrialization of our poor and weak country.

The GDP used today is nothing more than a change in statistical methods to monetize economic activity. In fact , the economic activities of that era are far from what GDP can describe, let alone what GDP can smear. The arduous struggle of several generations has disappeared under a new term?

香港职业学校 SOVHK

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