In my class there was a student whose grandfather had owned a big fabric store - so he was a capitalist. I heard that everyone was to go to their house to criticize him.

I got there late, and by the time I arrived, the capitalist had been beaten to death. I remember that his head was all swollen, and dark and bruised. I didn't look for long, and then we all left. But later I learned that this capitalist was killed after my classmates got there. Other students and probably Red Guards from the neighborhood also got involved. All those people beat him to death, including his own granddaughter, my classmate.

I didn't think much about it then because this kind of thing happened a lot. But years later, I thought about it many times and I wanted to find an answer. The question was very difficult; it was - If I had not arrived late, what would I have done? Would I have beaten him? He was a capitalist, but at the same time, he was a man - an old man.

I have never been able to answer this question.