196865438+On February 22nd, People's Daily quoted Mao Zedong's instructions: "It is necessary for educated youth to go to the countryside to receive re-education from poor and middle peasants. Immediately, the activities of intellectual youth "going to the countryside" were carried out throughout the country. Since then, by 1978, nearly 20 million educated youths have gone to the countryside to receive "necessary" "re-education of poor peasants and middle peasants". However, going to the countryside did not begin with the Cultural Revolution. Advocated in the 1950s and started in the 1960s. For the educated youth at that time, going to the countryside to eliminate the "three major differences" was full of positive idealism. Xing Yanzi, Hou Juan, Dong Jiageng and many other outstanding young people are their typical representatives. Therefore, the generalized movement of educated youth going to the countryside lasted for 25 years from the mid-1950s to the late 1970s, and the total number of educated youth reached about 20 million.

Educated youth going to the countryside is a special road provided by special history for a generation of young people. On this road, there is the waste of precious youth, the disillusionment of beautiful ideals, the vacillation of life confidence and the achievements of a generation of educated youth. The most difficult years in this country are with the local people. With their hard work and wisdom, they support * * * and this building. Compared with later young people, they understand the hardships of life better and have a hard-working character. The word "educated youth" is no longer literal, but a kind of "qualification" given to them by that special experience.