Les vies de promoció pels camperols durant el maoisme

HUANG, S.-m. (1998). The Spiral Road. Change in a Chinese Village trough the eyes of a Communist Party Leader. Boulder, Westview Press. Pàg. 71-72.

"I graduated from Jiangtou High School in 1963. At that time there were two options for country kids like me if they didn't want to farm or live in the countryside for the rest of their lives. The first option was to take the college entrance exam. If you could be admitted to a college, you were able to transfer your household record from the countryside to the city where the university was located, the first step in changing your classification from 'rural' to 'urban.' When you graduated from college, you would be assigned a job by the government, most likely in a government enterprise, and most likely in the city, with good pay and job security. Then, your classification in the household registration would be permanently changed to 'urban.' This option was of course my first priority. I took, but failed, the college entrance exam that year. There were very few colleges in China then. Only one out of every twenty or so high school graduates from the countryside was able to pass the rigorous national college entrance exam. With poor facilities and underqualified teachers, the chances for students from the country to pass this exam were small."
"What was the other option you were considering?" I asked.
"The second option for country kids like me was to join the military."
"Why the military?" I thought that traditional Chinese social values always ranked servicemen only slightly above bandits.
"Because it offered the opportunity to move out of the countryside," Ye replied. "The military service was for four years, so the servicemen could learn a number of skills, such as reading and writing for the illiterate, or driving and machinery operation for the literate. If a person performed well in the military, he would be initiated into the Party as a member. Party membership is a lifelong certificate for government jobs. When a Party member was discharged from the military, he most probably would be assigned to a city job. A non-farm job plus city living was the main incentive for country youth to join the army.
"But you didn't join the army either, right?" My intuition told me that Ye had never served in the military, even though at one point he was commander of the brigade militia.
"Yes, you are correct," Ye replied in a sour tone, "I never joined the army. Since there were so many country boys who wanted to join every year, only a small fraction of the volunteers were accepted. There were several considerations in the selection process. First was the person's political background, including his family's class standing, preferably tenant or middle peasants, and his loyalty to the Party. The second criterion was physical condition; only those in good health were chosen.
"I failed to pass military selection because of my slightly handicapped foot," Ye explained with a bit of embarrassment. "The injury occurred in 1953, when I was in third grade. I was swinging on my school playground when I accidentally lowered my left foot to touch the ground. I didn't have shoes on. Actually, I never wore shoes before I graduated from junior high. Anyhow, the bare bottom of my foot brushed against the sandy, hard ground and part of the flesh under the heel was scraped off and I bled a lot. Later I discovered that my left foot is slightly shorter than my right one, so I could not run as fast as other children. This problem cost me the opportunity to join the army.
"With these two options not available, the only alternative I had was to return to Lin Village."