| dc.description.abstract | The so called “the Educated Youths(知識青年)” is a product of a special era, during which policies aimed at huge number of new graduates from high schools and redistributed them from urban to rural areas to receive the education about live of being poor farmers. The size of this migration was considered so huge that it was called “上山下鄉（the campaign to go to the countryside)” or “Down to the Countryside Movement”. The campaign lasted from the late 60’s to early 80’s, in the late stage of which, many of the Educated Youths returned to cities and tried to share their memories in the form of literatures. Literatures of this period are generally categorized as the “Scar Literature”. However, the materials held in hand relevant to the campaign mainly focus on cases from areas where most Educated Youths were sent to, whereas datas from other areas where local Educated Youths were more sparsely settled are neglected. In addition, researches are limited on the local farmers and the Educated Youths who could not voice.
This article will apply investigation method, along side with reading other materials to demonstrate the nature of the relationships between the Educated Youths and the local villagers in Yunhe County. Interviews with the the locals and the Youths were conducted and samples are collected from several local bases of the campaign. Meanwhile, by looking at articles relevant to 上山下鄉 in the academia, this article will also attempt to conclude theories on the popular image of the Educated Youths and the “Struggling Educated Youths”, These theories will then be compared with facts during the campaign about the Educated Youths. The last part of this article will attempt to discuss the stages of 上山下鄉 in Yunhe county.
Yunhe county as a typical remote area which is hardly mentioned in studies of 上山下鄉. Yet Yunhe indeed witnessed this political campaign and the experiment of which presented through many materials and literatures seems to be unique. The exchanges between local farmers and the graduates carried out peacefully in general. Some Educated Youths even knew when would they be able to return to cities before setting out for villages, and had less objection to work in villages. In order to acquire qualification as a “workers/farmers/soldier student”, some Educated Youths asked to be sent to villages. In conclusion, events of Educated Youths in Yunhe demonstrates an alternative running mode for 上山下鄉 campaign.
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