The author (Helmut Opletal, Chinese name 欧普雷) conducted this interview on June 23, 1979 in Xu Wenli's apartment in Beijing which also served as the editorial office of the journal. It was transcribed from a tape recording, slightly edited and first published in the Hong Kong monthly "Observer" (Guanchajia 觀察家), in it's edition no. 22 (August 1979). It was reprinted by Xu Wenli's "April 5th Forum" in November 1979.