Nationwide Discussion about Outlook on Life

    The 1980 May issue of Chinese Youth published a long letter from Pan Xiao, which triggered a national debate and a re-examination of the conventional social ethic and outlook on life.

    In the letter, Pan confessed her perplexity that arose from the great disparity between what she was taught in school and what she saw and experienced in life – how textbooks led her to establish an ideal that was only to be shattered by the reality of life, and how her honesty became a hindrance in her work and search for friendship and love.

    She lost hope when she tried to seek the meaning of life. Finally, she concluded, that an individual cannot change his/her social environment, and that one should live subjectively for oneself and objectively for others.

    Guan Zhihao, editor-in-chief of Chinese Youth in 1980, said: "The 'cultural revolution' left a deep scar on the souls of young people, as their value system based on honesty and sense of collectivism was avalanched with the end of the 'cultural revolution.' They felt they had been fooled and cheated, and they became cynical."

    Within a month of the letter's publication, the editorial office received more than 20,000 letters. "At first, postmen brought letters in a bag, and not long after, they came with big sacks on their backs," recalled Guan.

    The debate marked the resurrection of individualism and the beginning of a period when young people strived to realize their personal values.

1981

"Five Stresses and Four Points of Beauty"

    The term is shorthand for a "stress on decorum, manners, hygiene, discipline and morals" and "beauty of the mind, language, behavior and the environment," an appeal the government made to its people, Chinese young people in particular, to refine their minds and deeds. The move was intended to revive the Chinese ethics and morals that were nearly destroyed by the infamous "cultural revolution (1966-1976)." By addressing symptoms rather than the cause – an absence of values – the movement soon fizzled out.

Qiong Yao Fever

    During the "cultural revolution," the natural affection between a man and a woman was decried as the bane of bourgeois ideology, and camaraderie was touted as the only noble interpersonal feeling. Lovers who dared appear in public arm-in-arm had to be prepared for scornful glares. With the introduction of China's reforms, ordinary people's long pent-up desire for romance soon found vent in the love stories of Taiwanese writer Qiong Yao. Her works flooded bookstores and libraries almost overnight, and they were eagerly snatched up by tens of thousands of mainlanders.

    All her stories featured the same story line: a pretty, talented and proud girl of humble background falls in love with an attractive and rich young man after a series of misunderstandings and antagonisms. The boy's family opposes the relationship, but eventually relents, giving the story a Cinderella ending. Fan Hansheng, former president of Huacheng Publishing House, was quoted as saying: "When we look back, we find Qiong Yao's stories somewhat narcissistic and affected. They did not invoke true humanity, nor shed light on virtues such as tolerance and sincerity. But they did open a window for Chinese youth to know romance at the time. That is why they sold so well." It was a dramatic change from the time of the "cultural revolution," when the theme of love was completely uprooted from Chinese literature.