「...毛主席教導我們說，知識青年到農村去，毛主席還教導我們說，接受貧下中農的再教育，毛主席的手一揮，揮到哪裡我們到哪裡，大有作為的廣闊天地，現在想想我們還愛你，一不怕苦二不怕死，步調一致才能得勝利，下定決心不怕犧牲，排除萬難去爭取勝利，呼兒嘿喲...」

──李春波，曲《呼兒嘿喲》。

 

被中國媒體喻為「知青代言人」的中國民歌歌手李春波，1994年收錄在《一封家書》專輯裡的作曲《呼兒嘿喲》，朗朗上口的歌詞道出60年代文化大革命時期的中國，在共產黨政治主流價值的號召下，展開「上山下鄉」運動的歷史背景。一連串爆發革命與鬥爭而停課，無法繼續升學、就業的高小/初中生，成了城市大量（失業）人口壓力的來源，為了疏解這股難以控制的紅潮，透過共產黨政治領袖的神化魅力，動員中國約1600萬知識青年（簡稱知青）到偏村、鄉下進行拓荒開墾，超過同時期台灣1300萬總人口數之多。此次駐村位於長江出海口的上海崇明島，便是當時大批知青下鄉的地點之一。

 

早在上世紀50年代起，一批又一批青年來到崇明島拓荒開墾，逐漸形成的一個個農場，在島上呈東西向開展，沿著田埂，發現數個宛如空屋廢墟的瓦房、集體宿舍與水塔。作品透過石膏水泥磚轉印了在駐村期間所拍攝、踏查的集體房舍，微型化呈現一如眼前見證歷史足跡的廣場景象。以及重拾自上海文廟書市蒐集得來文革時期的政治宣傳品、報章雜誌與老照片，打著如美術館泛黃的投射燈，目光彷彿得以窺見他遙遠的過去。那段建設新農村的過往已逝，而僅能追憶這段無聲而轟轟烈烈知青歷史的，只剩下這貨真價實的「檔案」。

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[註1]

上山下鄉運動：

是指1950-1970年代，由「中共政府」組織城市「知識青年」（簡稱「知青」）到農村定居和勞動的政治運動，人數高達1600多萬人，將近一個中小型國家大遷徙的規模。真正有組織地把大批城鎮青年送到農村去，則是在文化大革命期間，共有十分之一的城市人口來到鄉村，這是人類現代歷史上所罕見一次反都市化的行動，工業化期間發生從城市到鄉村的人口大遷移。上山下鄉雖然暫緩城鎮的就業壓力，但是幾千萬年輕人的青春被荒廢，80年代以後出現了知識斷代。無數家庭被強行拆散，這場運動也造成了各個層面的社會混亂。

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[註2]

知識青年（知青）：

是指自願或者被迫從城市下放到農村成為農民的青年，大多數人只受到初中或高中教育。60年代文化大革命時期，爆發動亂與鬥爭，高考停止，學校停課，學生成了城市大量（失業）人口的壓力，以免情勢失去控制，在中共政權號召下開啟「上山下鄉」運動。自1971年，知青在農村的許多問題開始不斷暴露，女知青受強姦性侵等事件層出不窮。1977年高考恢復，直到1980年代中共才開放知青返城的相關決策。絕大部分知青陸續返城，也有部分人在農村結婚「落戶」，永遠地留在農村。

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"Chairman Mao said those Chinese Educated Urban Youths need to go to the villages and to accept reeducation from the lower-class farmers. Chairman Mao indicated to us to go forward to where we should be: To embrace the universal earth, to overcome the challenges and fears, to be determined to win and not afraid of sacrifice."   

 

─Hu Er Hei Yo by Chun-bo Li

 

The folk signer Chunbo Li is regarded as ‘The spokesman of those Chinese Educated Urban Youths’ and Hu Er Hei Yo, one of the song from his early-career album A Letter to Home (1994) represents the historical context of communist’s policies of the Cultural Revolution and the Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside Movement in the 60s. During the revolution, most of the schools closed. Consequently lots of students were not able to attend classes and became the major unemployed population in the cities. 

 

In order to ease the blooming red tide communism, China mobilized over 16 million Educated Urban Youths through the Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside Movement by claims of a divine charm of the Communist political leaders. The number of people this effected was far beyond the population of Taiwan at the that time – 13 million . The residency site - Chongming Island in Shanghai, China – is one of the major locations for those Chinese Educated Urban Youths.

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In the early 1950s, Chongming Island was pioneered by groups of those Chinese Educated Urban Youths and today the furrowed land, farmhouses and water tanks in the area stand as proof of the farming development built up during that period. My residency practice was the transfer printings of gypsum cement with the collected images of the Collectivist buildings. My artistic method of ‘’micromation’’ illustrates rebuild the vivid historical vision of public scenes. 

 

In addition, by collecting manifestos, newspapers, magazines and other found photographs of the Cultural Revolution from the Confucian Temple book market in Shanghai, I use those material to provide a glance toward the distant past, as aged as the yellowed lighting in a museum. Those memories of farming development have passed away. However, archives prove to be the way of tracing a hidden yet epic history.

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