Home » Language » English » My Long Braids Were Cut Off and Other Things That

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In college, I had two very long braids which were reached to my knees and got many people’s eyes on them. Every time, I brushed my hair after washing with great efforts, and to wash hair is very easy and simple, but for my hair was so long, it was a hard work for me. I climbed onto a bench every time I finished washing my hair, and my classmate Wang came up to comb it, form end up to the head, with a traditional jade comb of mine. Whenever she did it, she would smile to me, saying:” what a beautiful classmate I have.” I also took my long pigtails as a treasure, holding them in my hand and feeling the silky things. At school, my teacher ordered me enter into sports team, for I like to practice Tai Ji Quan, she told me to wrap my long hair up into a bun. So I kept my hair up all day long and few people knew how long my hair was.

In the summer of 1966, the culture revolution began and our school was forced to stop teaching classes, to remove away the four old things and made critics on old literate people. The big words were posted every where and all things were in a mess. I was also very worried inside my heart. One day, there was a note to order the girls with very long hair to gather together, to have a hair cut and said that long hair stands for bourgeoisie emotions. If we did not cut them off, we would receive punishment and still to be cut by force and without permission to enter revolution organizations. The girls that gathered together were very frightened and reluctantly to sit before a boy, with a sharp scissors in his hand to cut our braids off. When a girl just got her long hair cut off, she stood up and pointed to me with a finger, for I was just standing nearby, said “That girl also keeps very long hair.” Then that boy turned to me and let me fall down my hair. When I dropped my long braids to its full length, I grasped it in my hands with tears almost running out, and then that boy’s eyes became very big, looking at me and said “What a long pigtail!” Then he came to me and took the pigtail away out of my hand and said: “Do not think any more about it”. With a sound of “click”, I closed my eyes and said in my heart:” Gone, my good pigtails. Away, my mother’s best love.” I could not bear it any more and ran to a dark place without anyone’s notice, with this hair in my hand, crying badly as loud as I can. Ever since then , I was looking like a boy and went for big in series, along the road I saw and heard many stories about young girls lost their lovely long hair.

Here is another case. Our country began to cut long braids on girl’s head. At that time, girls used to keep their hair very long and combed into two big braids and at the recall ” remove four old things away “many girls stood out and cut off their beautiful hair. Once there was a college girl student who was hurried to get the diploma and for the school had stopped the class, she had nothing to do and went to hair salon to cut off her long pigtail before the summer holiday was over. While I was traveling past there, I stopped before the gate of this salon and watched what would happen. Then I saw her rush into the salon looking at many long cut-off braids lying on the floor, with her eyes. She stood there and waiting for the hairdressers to come to cut her beautiful hair. Soon a woman hairdresser came and helped her taking off the service cap, which was just for her in movement. Without a word, let down the hair. This pigtail dropped down like a big black snake and trailed to the floor, enough had 1.65 meter long. The hairdresser held a pair of scissors and gave a final look at the girl who was beginning to cry and signed and cut it off in a hurry. I only saw this pigtail trembling for the last time and was cut off getting away from the girl’s head. This girl cried very sadly and received the pigtail from hairdresser’s hand and put it into her own bag. Then the hairdresser repaired her head for a while and finally this student got out of the salon with very short hair on the head.

For a period of time we cut uncountable long pigtails and students began to cut girl’s hair door by door, among them was that girl in salon. They set up blocks on the roads and stop the traffic and forced girls to cut their long pigtails without permission, only if they saw long hair. One girl was called Yu who also kept a long pigtail with beautiful looking. This day she was doing some washing by the gate suddenly she saw a group of the Red Guards coming with scissors and just cut-off braids in their hands. When Yu saw this she was scared and ran into the yard. Unfortunately she was found by the Red Guards and that group of the Red Guards walked this way towards her. Yu closed the door at once and bolted it. Then she heard the head of this group shouted out “Open the door quickly for revolution and let us cut your braids off” And then this group began to push the unbolted-well door with great efforts. One girl could not resist so many people and before long Yu could not hold up any longer.

The door was opened with a clash. The excited Red Guards rushed in. Yu was frightened and scared and ran in the yard and finally was caught by that group of people and was forced to sit down. Yu begged hard and said “This pigtail was kept when my mother was still living and was a memory to her !For my mother’s sake , let me keep this pigtail on my poor head?!” The head of the Red Guards smiled coldly and said:” It is easy to let you still have this pigtail but will you walk towards Qing dynasty with this hair on your head Better to sacrifice for the sake of revolution “Then without attention to Yu anymore, with one hand grasping the pigtail and one hand running the scissors they cut down the pigtail at the part of just under ears.

And later on till now, I always wear short hair on my head. Almost forty years have past up to now, China has got on a big change and many girls in the street can keep their long hair as freely as they can. When I saw they running away and past me, I always likely see an imagine things that boy delivered the cut-off long braids to me with helpless facial expressions.

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