It's time to stop licking the wounds and pick up a scalpel.

As the "cultural revolution" (1966-76) becomes an increasingly obscure piece of history for young people in China, the generation from the 10 years have begun to write their personal history in that era.

"Memos of Chinese Educated Youths' Literature" (Zhongguo Zhiqing Minjian Beiwang Wenben), a non-fictional series published by Beijing's China Workers' Publishing House earlier this year, is among these efforts.

The six books were all authored by former zhiqing, or educated youths, who took part in the campaign of "going down to the countryside," launched by China's late Chairman Mao Zedong more than 30 years ago.

In the books, they have recorded with overwhelming honesty their experiences as educated youths in different parts of the country, ranging from the grasslands in Inner Mongolia and the no-man's land of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau to villages nestled in Southwest China's Yunnan Province.

They have also confessed the errors they made.

Although they are not the first group of zhiqing writers to reflect on the campaign and the "cultural revolution" in written words, their critical self-examination and soul-searching have been welcomed by critics and readers. Less than a month after its bookstore debut in February, about 20,000 more copies of the book have been ordered.

"The publishing of the series surpasses the achievement of the previous zhiqing literature," said Liu Xiaomeng, a researcher from the Institute of Modern History under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

"The most valuable characteristic of the series is its honesty, with which the authors did not try to gloss over their experiences," said Liu, whose co-authored two-volume book, "The History of Chinese Educated Youths," was published in 1998. He believed that details offered in the books will greatly help both historians and readers to gain a clear understanding of the complexity of the zhiqing phenomenon.

In the beginning of the "cultural revolution" Chairman Mao Zedong urged young students in cities and towns to go to the countryside to work with peasants, get real knowledge about people's lives there and be re-educated.

Statistics indicate that about 17 million "educated youths" went to the countryside during the "cultural revolution." Many more rural youths were sent back to their hometowns in the countryside after finishing their junior education in cities and towns.

At that time, many youths looked forward to dedicating themselves to the emancipation of all mankind and the realization of Communism. They even thought that indulging in love affairs would disqualify them from the lofty cause.

Most stayed in the countryside for more than five years. After enduring great hardships, some returned to the cities to find themselves left out of the process of national reform. As many of them were not well educated, they did not fit well into society.

The "scar literature" (shang-hen wenxue) emerged immediately after the 10-year turmoil, which stressed how the educated youths suffered during the "cultural revolution."

At the same time, leading roles in these early literary books were often stereotyped as youths with lofty ideals who were searching for answers to the truth, despite the harsh situation.

The dominant theme popular in these writings can be summarized by noted zhiqing writer Zhang Chengzhi.

As one of the zhiqing novelist pioneers, Zhang recalled his zhiqing days: "No matter how startling the scars on us were, how our lives were thrown into chaos and how often we would lament that our youth had been wasted, I still believe we are the blessed generation, we are the happy ones."

Literary works written by former zhiqing became a sort of national catharsis and gave way to more professional and daring writing in the 1980s.

These included the stories of Wang Meng, with his stylistic experiments in stream of consciousness writing; the symbolic "obscure" poetry of Bei Dao and others; the relatively bold dramas, both for the stage and for the screen, of several playwrights; and innovative investigative reportages.

Though there were a few masterpieces in zhiqing literature offering poignant insights into the campaign, such as Lao Gui's "Bloody Dusk" (Xuese Huang-hun) and Zhang Kangkang's "Ice River in the North" (Damo Binghe), most zhiqing writers were satisfied with a constant lamentation of their pains and scars, especially in the 1990s, when memoirs recounting the personal lives and efforts of the zhiqing flooded bookstores.

According to Yang Jian, a professor from Beijing's Central Academy of Drama, the narrative tone of zhiqing literature has changed to one of nostalgia in the 1990s, whereas the critical spirit, which is of great significance to the understanding of the event, is lacking in most literary writing, including zhiqing literature.

Critics have noted that although the literature of pain is understandable, it might pose as an obstacle to the understanding of contemporary China.

Liu Xiaomeng believes that the "zhiqing campaign" needs further appraisal.

"The 'cultural revolution' was not only a disaster for China, but also for all human beings," Liu said.

The exploration of the close relationship between the "cultural revolution" and the issue of the zhiqing has important implications in understanding the disastrous effect of the 10 years, Liu said.

It's also instrumental in arousing people's consciousness, and in educating the new generation of youth "never to follow blindly, never to be bold out of ignorance and never be made use of by others out of ignorance," Liu said.

The reason why so many young people are interested in the issue of "educated youths," according to Liu, is that "it's still not a clear picture."

Liu believed that when more efforts are made to study this issue, the more the Chinese can learn not only about the true experiences of the zhiqing but about life itself.

"Only by thoroughly going through every detail of that period can one obtain true mental health, and so will the nation," Liu said.

Writer and artist Feng Jicai was among the first to "speak bitterness."

His thoughts, jotted down on scraps of paper under Red Guard surveillance, later became the content of short stories that were published in the early 1980s.

In later years, he advertised in a newspaper for people willing to share their experiences. From the 4,000-odd respondents, he recorded hundreds of oral histories. Many of the experiences were those of former zhiqing.

The best appear in "One Hundred People's 10 Years," published in 1991.

"The termination of the 'cultural revolution' can only be done by a complete and true memory of the disastrous event," Feng said.

Editor Yue Jianyi for the new series said he undertook the project with Feng's words in mind.

"These six books are only the beginning of efforts to dig out the stunning complexities of the zhiqing lives," said Yue, who was also editor for Lao Gui's "Bloody Dusk" in 1989.

"We are calling to zhiqing in China to pool their true memories and hopefully restore a complete picture for the young generations."

(China Daily 03/22/2001)