Do you remember when you met Chairman Mao?
Yes, absolutely. I travelled by train from my hometown to Beijing to see Chairman Mao because of my outstanding performance as a little Red Guard. The comrades in Beijing realised I was from Hunan province, which was also where Chairman Mao came from, so they arranged for me to stay in the best place - China's elite Tsinghua University.
It was a long way from Tsinghua to Tiananmen Square so I had to get up at 1am and walk there. The square was crowded with many Red Guards and I was not tall enough to see Chairman Mao, so I sat on people's shoulders to get a better view.
Why were you chosen as a Red Guard representative?
During that time, everyone had to do something to demonstrate their loyalty to Chairman Mao and some of them jumped up and fought rightists. They harassed and beat people but I didn't do that. I was crazy about learning calligraphy then but I was too poor to buy brushes and paper. I found that copying dazibao - big character posters - was a good way to practise and avoid being seen as not enthusiastic about learning advanced thoughts.
They supplied me with ink and paper for free and I practised non-stop, day and night. Finally, they thought I was a really diligent child and sent me to Beijing as a Red Guard in the fifth batch that Chairman Mao received.