In the memoir Cowshed, Ji Xianlin writes a chapter at the end of the novel called “Further Reflections.” In this chapter, Xianlin raises many important questions revolving around the Cultural Revolution, and if the ramifications of the revolution have been dealt with properly. By bringing up these questions, and providing solutions, the author is able to effectively conclude his memoir with reasonable hopes for the future.
One of the questions Xianlin raises is, “Is the Cultural Revolution a thing of the past?” I think this is a very important questions that not only limits itself to the Cultural Revolution, but extends itself to all great tragedies in our history. Like many catastrophes that appear in history, once the aftermath has been taken care of, people slowly start to forget that it ever happened. On page 140, Xianlin even goes as far as to describing the Cultural Revolution as a “fairy tale” for youths because of the lack of education on the subject. I know in my senior year history class, when we learned about the cultural revolution, I didn’t even come close to learning about the gruesome conditions people had to live in. Xianlin’s memoir definitely helps relieve the many gaps left by those who are unwilling to talk about the Cultural Revolution, but he is correct when asserting that the youths of China need to be educated on this manner because it is not, in fact, a thing in the past, but an integral part of Chinese history that affects its people of today, too. Also, if the Cultural Revolution is not taught to todays youths, the same mistake could be made again.
Another important question that Xianlin proposes is “have the victims of the revolution given voice to their bitterness?” This is followed by an evident “no.” This plays into the reason why todays youths know so little about the revolution: no one wants to talk about the horrible things they had to go through. One man was even quoted saying, “It used to be said that ‘the scholar can be killed, but he cannot be humiliated.’ The Cultural Revolution proved that not only can he be killed but he can also be humiliated.” He is definitely not the only one who feels this way. Even the author felt humiliated and states that he should have just killed himself because he believes his whole life is a humiliation. Survivors of the revolution need to be exposed to “true unity and harmony” in their community before they will be willing to share their stories. This makes sense, but that means that people will have to learn to be more open to others and the resentments towards each other need to be slowly healed. That is the only way people will start to open up about their lives and the youths will finally be able to learn about their countries history.