Many people were killed, tortured, imprisoned in very bad conditions and abused in many different ways. Many people killed themselves. The best of people in two generations were wasted. Some survived but not many. Many escaped to Hong Kong, like my family, some to overseas countries. Many people who tortured other people or killed people remained n China and get very high positions.
I do not know too much about traditional culture so I do not know how much is lost. But I know basic things like good to your parents and brothers and sisters, like politeness, like honesty, like treating other people the way you want to be treated, like not harming other people. These things are not automatic in the inner hearts of many people in China. In the past when I was small, these were natural in most people. Now these have become rare.
I have read many books by people who are writers and who have suffered the Cultural revolution, because we were lucky enough to escape before harming us. I know more by reading the books. One writer I like very much is Chen Ruoxi. I think some of her books have been translated into English. She was bad luck because she was Taiwanese and chose to go to China during the 60’s, hoping to contribute to building a better China. So she experienced Cultural revolution. Good that she survives and return to Taiwan.
