Surrounded by a Chinese audience in Beijing's first private bookstore, Sunway, French scholar Michel Bonnin talks more like a Chinese person, not only because of his fluent Mandarin, but also because of his deep research of a special section of Chinese history.

French scholar Michel Bonnin says he has a predestinated binding force to dedicate to research.

Bonnin, who also goes by the Chinese name Pan Xiaoming or "Lao Pan", is a French sinologist at the Paris-based France's School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences.

Starting his research almost three decades ago, Bonnin is famous for his studies on the zhi qing, which refers to the 20 million young urban residents who were sent to the countryside during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76) for re-education.

The relocation, ordered by the central government, deeply affected a whole generation. In literature, movies and art, many who experienced the life of an "rusticated youth" in those days think of it as a time that cost them a large part of their youth.

In town to promote the Chinese edition of his work The Lost Generation: China's Down to the Countryside Movement (1968-1980) last Saturday at Sunway, Bonnin held a lively question and answer period with the audience.

He talked about the Chinese Communist Party's economic and political justifications for pushing the movement but also stressed that Mao Zedong's need to promote his ideology was the major justification, something he said is often overlooked in Chinese modern history.

But Bonnin said he believes that the movement achieved little of its initial motives - economically, more people were unemployed; politically and ideologically, more people were critical of the system and learned to think for themselves rather than listen to senseless propaganda.

Some of the audience said they were moved by Bonnin's efforts. One said it was interesting listening to "a foreigner who cares about our history".

"I have yuan fen (a predestinated binding force) with those sent to the countryside. I'm from the same generation as them - when you were rising in the 'cultural revolution', I was on the streets in May 1968," Bonnin said.

Bonnin studied Chinese and philosophy during college. He realized that Paris was not an ideal place for studying Chinese and decided to move to Hong Kong.

He taught French and made friends with many young people who had been sent to the countryside and later snuck out of the Chinese mainland.

Bonnin started his book by interviewing some of these people.

After China's opening-up in 1978, Bonnin finally had a chance to live in China and interviewed more people sent to the countryside for his book.

"They had many stories to tell," he said.

He added he will be meeting more such people and learning more about the movement.

"My learning of history is an ongoing process, I'm still not finished with my research yet," he said.

While some members of the audience questioned Bonnin's historical analysis and opinions, others suggested further academic questions for him to explore.

"This movement did not accomplish anything but rather the contrary," said one member of the audience. "How should we deal with such collective memories?"

Bonnin suggested that they should pass their stories on to their sons and daughters. He encouraged them to analyze and reflect upon "your stories on the foundation of objective historical materials, such as my book."

When asked about censorship, Bonnin said that his book's Chinese edition's text differs little compared to that of the Hong Kong edition.

"To my surprise, the Party History Research Center acclaimed my book and only corrected certain terminologies, which I later reviewed and agreed on."

Bonnin said that they "suggested" he omit the term "Lost Generation" from the title, but that he pushed for it successfully.

"[The Lost Generation] is not a derogatory term," Bonnin said. "These people lost the chance to receive education. Even though many of them tried evening universities, not all of them succeeded."

Bonnin also said that newspapers in the 1980s wrote about women who were sent to the countryside and, when they finally returned to the cities, had trouble getting married because of their age.

"It would have been fine if the movement was voluntary, but quite the contrary, many people were forced into it," he said. "We should all learn from history."

From top: Millions of zhi qing left hometowns to get "re-educated" in rural areas during the movement; The book cover of The Lost Generation: China's Down to the Countryside Movement (1968-1980) ; Zhi qing work in farmland.

(China Daily July 20, 2010)