上山下乡

上山下鄉

shàngshān-xiàxiāng

verb

Meanings

1 to be sent from the city to live and work in the countryside
2 the Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside Movement (1968–1980)

Characters

Examples

HSK 4

我爸爸年轻的时候上山下乡，在农村住了八年。

Wǒ bàba niánqīng de shíhou shàngshān-xiàxiāng, zài nóngcūn zhù le bā nián.

When my dad was young he was sent down to the countryside and lived in a village for eight years.

HSK 5

上山下乡运动影响了整整一代人。

Shàngshān-xiàxiāng yùndòng yǐngxiǎng le zhěngzhěng yídài rén.

The Down to the Countryside Movement shaped an entire generation.

Tips

history

From December 1968, when Mao said educated young people should go to the countryside to be re-educated by the poor and lower-middle peasants, about 17 million urban youths were sent to villages and border farms. They are called 知青, and most returned to the cities only after 1978.

Stroke Order

上 shàng

山 shān

下 xià

乡 xiāng