Witness: A Testimony of Conscience during the Chinese Cultural Revolution

Witness: A Testimony of Conscience during the Chinese Cultural Revolution is author Kuang Xiaolins recollection of the Chinese Cultural Revolution as a worker at the Ninth Textile Factory in the city of Jiujiang capital of Chinas Jiangxi Province. The book is praised by readers as Chinas answer to Aleksandr Solzhenitsyns The Gulag Archipelago. It is a personal account of the madness and chaos experienced by ordinary Chinese citizens during one of their countrys worst social disasters.The book is of an autobiographical nature documenting the authors thoughts emotions and actions as a participant observer of the political upheavals of his time. His involvement -- first as a revolutionary leader and then as a victim -- in numerous political campaigns before and during the Cultural Revolution enabled him to witness both sides of the story. This unique background allowed him to collect large amounts of original material -- pamphlets posters official announcements internal communications lists of bad elements recordings of interrogations transcripts of confessions etc -- which are used in this book to help recreate the political and social horror of life at the grassroots. Particularly valuable are photographs and personal testimonies of those who had suffered at the hands of their co-workers who overnight became their accusers torturers and even executioners.When the world suddenly and violently turned upside down and all moral guidance was lost one could only rely on ones conscience as compass. It remains the authors hope that Witness as a memoir and historical record of the Chinese Cultural Revolution will enable the future generations to understand how their forefathers once lived loved and feared for their lives.