This video was recorded in 1992, in the ancestral hall (tangwu) of the home of Zhu Congde in Xiakou village. Wu Guanglu (72 in 1992) sings “the green leaves of June corn”, which he introduced as “singing a song when Chairman Mao was around” and later dated from the Land Reform period (1951-54). The song is clearly in the local shan’ge tradition, but the lyrics have been “revolutionized” (the term used in the lyrics is fanshen, literally, “to turn over”). The Chinese communist party’s revolutionary folklore project began in the 1930s in the Northwest China base area of Yan’an. It was an example of the Party’s cultural “mass line”: collecting folk tunes from the peasant grassroots, systematically redefining the words to inculcate revolutionary consciousness, and then giving them back to the people. In this performance, Wu Guanglu forgets the words toward the end of the song. Transcription: 乜玉麦烂了根，全国人民大翻身，有吃有穿有田地，人民拥护毛主席，毛主席像太阳，明明朗朗照四方。春天秧苗日日长，秋天谷子堆满仓。阳雀叫唤也吧喳，毛主席领导做庄稼，没得农具给农具，没得田地给土巴 Translation: The green leaves of June corn All the People of the nation have been revolutionized There is food, clothing, and land for all Everyone supports Chairman Mao Chairman Mao is like the sun Brilliant, warm, shining everywhere The spring planting grows daily The autumn harvest will be a bumper crop Chairman Mao leads us in growing our crops To those with no tools, give tools To those with no land, give land