A Study On The Roles Of Sending Down Youth To The Countryside In The Social Development Of Border Areas

Hulunbuir is located in the northern motherland, 630 kilometers east-west, 700 kilometers north-south, and covers an area of 253.000 square kilometers. Its east is linked with Heilongjiang, west and south-west is adjacent to Mongolia, Xing'anling mountains adjacent to the southern, north and north-western bordered with Russia. Hulunbuir has a long history, abundant resources and many peoples, famed for its picturesque scenery and called by the people as"Green Land","Northland Jasper". In this piece of land, from the mid-sixties to late seventies of the twentieth century, the youth had set off large-scale campaign to the countryside. Over ten years, including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Zhejiang, more than 10 million young people had come to the production team of rural people's communes in Hulunbuir region, to the pastoral and"Ao Ritter", and to work at the state-owned farms. Because of their large number and great impact, at that time, it became one of the main issues of concern. This paper is chiefly concerned with the youth to the countryside during the campaign and Hulunbuir social development in mid-sixties and late seventies of the twentieth century, at the same time, the author depicts the historical roles played by the youth in the development of the campaign through the analysis of their production and life.This paper consists of three parts.Part One: An introduction to the social development in Hulunbuir region during the campaign of sending down youth to the countryside.Part Two: It focuses on the development of the campaign of sending down youth to the countryside in Hulunbuir region. Based on historical facts, the author analyzes the basic conditions of the campaign before the Cultural Revolution in Hulunbuir region, its rise and climax during the Cultural Revolution and its lasting and the end of the campaign.Part Three: It deals with objective historical roles played by the youth in the campaign. This part is the body part of the paper. The author tries to discuss it from two aspects: 1.The impact on the lifestyle of rural and pastoral areas brought by the spread of urban civilization of the youth. 2. Promoting the concept of change in rural and pastoral areas and becoming a bridge and link between urban and rural areas.In short, the writing of this article is to negate the campaign of sending down youth to the countryside, but not to negate the contributions and sacrifices made by the youth and not to deny the youth the spirit of perseverance and their historical merits.