Focus on Transnational Culture: CHINESE LIBERAL CULTURE IN THE YEAR OF THE PIG

BY ZHOU BINGXIN

In this paper, presented in absentia at the is no overstatement to describe China as a gigantic prison first conference of the Chinese Liberal without walls. Since the end of the 1990s, Chinese ideology has turned its Culture Movement, mainland writer Zhou focus to the pleasures of consumption and aimless indulgence. Bingxin calls for a united effort in defense Intellectuals of all stripes have rushed willy-nilly to join the of the artistic integrity of modern Chinese trend, abandoning their capacity to think, question, monitor and counterbalance the tyrannical regime in order to satisfy literature. their base natures with the sensual allurements of con - sumerism. China has lost the intellectual class as spokesmen This meeting is the first time in China’s history that Chinese for the people and representatives of justice and the oppressed , have marched into democratic society under the banners of who through words and actions could provide moral and fac - “Creative Freedom ” and ”Freedom of Expression .“This pio - tual direction to the masses in times of difficulty.The qualities neering effort demonstrates that Chinese intellectuals world - of caring for truth and justice, of identifying the ills of society wide, especially those on the mainland, who care about the and suggesting cures for them, these qualities are almost wretched situation in China have come to the realization that impossible to find among China’s intellectuals now. the word “freedom” can ultimately defeat the tyrannical ideo - Likewise, Chinese literature has collapsed in our present logy of totalitarianism and post-totalitarianism.The full consumer society, and is increasingly marginalized from Chi - essence and significance of this unprecedented realization can - nese cultural life. Chinese writers long ago abandoned the liter - not yet be thoroughly fathomed . ary burden of idealism, humanity, romanticism, enlightenment It is the existence of overseas intellectuals that provides a and inquiry. Contemporary literature has sunk into a morass of backbone of conscience and truth to the cynical mass con - consumerism, abandoning art in favor of formulaic, apathetic sumer society of mainland China, and recalls the role of intel - and consumption-oriented works that serve as no more than a lectuals in other periods of exile associated with social sedative for a society that is spinning out of control. movements in China, such as the regime change in 1949, the Today’s China is suffused with philistinism and cynicism; Cultural Revolution, the April 5th Movement in 1976 , and lacking a culture of liberal humanism, it is obsessed with most especially the liberal intellectuals who fled overseas material consumption and daily amusements . Modern Chinese around the time of the 1989 Democracy Movement. intellectuals have collectively reconciled themselves to com - In the 17 years that have passed since the events of the promise with the powers that be in return for accepting their 1989 Democracy Movement, the vast land of China still nurture . From this standpoint it becomes easier to understand enjoys no hope of the equality, freedom, democracy, truth and how totalitarianism has been able to continue in China for rule of law that are the inalienable rights of all human beings . 3,000 years to the present day . Even in an era of great material advancement, power remains The Hungarian writer Arthur Koestler blamed intellectuals the monopoly of officials, and ordinary Chinese people have for the rise of totalitarianism. 1 Likewise, modern and contempo - only the right to survive in silence.The idea of “the power of rary Chinese history demonstrates that intellectuals contributed the powerless” introduced by former Czech presidentVaclav to the development and consolidation of totalitarianism in Havel remains a fairy tale in China. Seventeen years have China. Even if we make allowances for the errors of early ideal - brought a new era in world history, but the people of China ism, how can we account for the dozen-odd man-made catas - still live under a pyramidal power structure with no signs of trophes repeatedly inflicted on the Chinese people since the change. Now countless unfair, unjust, inhumane and iniqui - Great Leap Forward? None of the previous catastrophes or wars tous events are accumulating into a storm , but the regime is of Chinese history could match the destruction and suffering taking no action to change its basic character of internal colo - imposed on China and its people during this period, yet it has nization, spiritual enslavement, autocracy and surveillance. It been deliberately banished from memory. Th e h T Ch th selves selves works th en wer an exploi cen C i democ ca world i n expre i of pig e on w eph t t i spi a t ov Ch th ble th Mov Ch Co ev soc pa redu ra ten I n lon yea w nqui nt ng nt ion ion inu nd nd nr es es h it ti ides e e ei i n ent vi ersa t r d ju e o o s mercialz tion, i i i i i r i basi -rea ia Wha Th T g rs. h ve ic ulg tu na na na nes f soc J emra e r ng, or a e ron of con ot or o na emn r apa tu of an an c ef ect. th st “li l lit n hm p i t s, homeland sit in yr sio to day ed e s . : pre e he p It an ta up in her swer Q rom al v o sinc enc ose r Al t ra the d d ia era c the se i r a , betwen a te tro alking r io ie ra ment ca nes t th t ti is in uestio t eg ter ter ent but d ext to h n l d cy d exp who n “c f o ong o par tio ad rat we n ws o by n tive we ic r scale l uman t er imension g ture esir rat ar d f r duce human necessar of e n i vo s p est ult rec egr m Fr eco and t me r e m u s n o c isadvant in the and in n ur ted ake suf and it igs the and ression. we atur a act o of se t se big ice om wit has ransl t es l d t ur ziy stil f e ord Chin C is ab n” d eta hat . s nomic iv irect is p ca i They t avail b , the ince hina. lik by ev eloping o ing er a hav 190s e n v anesthi has od ou ighr ts encouragin na yo in e ideological e out easnt, of ev h the im to pigs f n i mor cr o l , o t ble from , c e r t distor of hain c ind o ies r the exagera tion, tion-building y o ay’s en u a elationshp China f n oncer eated f e of ma t y liber ion China w Zhu taken to , or ion f ical inqure at As t c ind reminders situat t ged a T philstne ca wa he especia hem raving e that b and ulgenc and in nd can Libera le he on, l rket wor counterbal t hsuc “fre make Chines t i re enfit, than preocc he and fa ulgen it of 190s, wit Bajie their mea r e s groups migra an me, dif ed mil t not ov er, . def ion China it cole lit as inte oday har c . ideolgy t hear d to t a the thems hav e Liter s , h a “ a unp int cl happ y l lly m for e” e ns y , r u it spir p e f s le hing end pen C b ce” t as o co ampdow ar o u i f renc h whic lect ol o f h uc w n a a etw a c e o nt ult r co int ree ld pation of p its for c hi a whi i b ced ct ly nd lear d ’s t , b at nsu o icie rec , s es “li s a t igs s ive at th t ar etr etw elves e n emoc anc he eco while of ns f th ers n w on ure age near l ur Chin i wr the th a dom vast abo ua ter es io min en or w t t e bera no ednt s or . be o o ific le e s umpt mpt at by h t e th y meor e t f ns p o he e t en ls me an ha , bet . a ai bec n ge as y va d appl y h e ter kers m ha r t ut r nd I a e wit its ho wit r q g o him/er he ns es long e o e r from ra ld i t s co Ch nd d of l,” t col of ural ared lues n co Ch y any f ion uite late ugle tr gres wen s i s end a ailed a t ke omes t the cy ed -wi peol , s telcuas p ion, m i mater he he ev n d h tale, nd becoms ha , main 3 h ina’s Chin n histor m stil tr onization, e th i , y cept. e ethnic w nes a s the pcoorr ents y prob t at mar it ivpr e are t Ming ve an of of ov e tantly s te s towa s de consumer al h conepts rough o ker moc of as imply up pon of of 2 a e to is ialr the its sfmin or a s nearly fredo thro nig retur es stream as k bloc inpcr iple f n moder walk t e the pr m n Thes ali their iar presi at ical and der y th pre C Li fredom take le . betwen e ot core. rd ran y . der C hina’s e t oblems minor lif io per p beral al sm rough them m bac eni ge litera nt, wn hina an rospe ni their vai i i i div indiv estyl con ved s n n s me satisf ac y . ades l o wa “ m neth impos o v of ite on ar that k of info exil The wor r ling n g The ent away f ide g - wr eal d. , The e Cu ti sli i of y pa C pu s lit ites rayr fro them life th y nstead Chi w are i r t . flat and to id num a hem hi and o of s up ed ism itng In mar di c ds yera ty l st e lture itr a t nar f and u o m - - , ng - - al n a 50 by - - l - - - - - t Chi t va refl r ret po mat w of t s t s s ba age at du t c pr ugl of no na t bec of ea nov t Re morb in (N Pa z in ni s a in t vu ner ic f s ia r ex his ica or he at he ion his he awni ea entd oc umer umer is ol ha nd ur a oma st to st dus rl cuit ev is ni ti Wa ed m, lga be w lit ce C c li re lit üren ct y lo iet The Idea Li Po it Wr . ed nz a na y s el” o bus lit 19 ( o e tenc e sm s h op ki c a r From s c me h hic at t ic io Yu d y , i r li , a n ” n t t n hed o len h 190s by it r ina t o ng i t ng pula l y er hen ow ivapr t er . y . nd nd t n dit his i r temp 90s a ger ali n T th e n t por f lit bec s he ous o iner pret a in i wr in li l he inf p it wr oc a y a w a s er bia his nd e it wr i pr a f na ce t , fr t e S depic s r u u t er sm a liz y i , heir t pros es of o t ur g), over t t m, y an huo’ n a d , ima pr ic or s rd r iet mpt rged he ame es edom he t a t heir t c nes agit w ter r r at ent t hyp o hen o unit vat of irec his t ed nd—b y in pa onc c s s or e , t ia e ings p he ma gsh t ben c er hows he a a ons at y ure t t ign or ed Priv er a li 198 s en los . heir s nd he a k a s rea mat s a n e t of io at t t s ion ive nx c s f , ,ic s he r s er t or es i midle- l polit t ept y n, s th ight e ult o on, 19 ion “ ons lif i h uc y he self f ed c Chi “ umer ) reflc on us a t , ga apea a of empt des n der s hod iet co ga t y y , te rec em lit s it a s ia er c o ens al e 1 wa pat t iden ure 90s. at how inc ex he gr nt ilt of , ke ali ined of mod ho s L 90s “ but ali nb - r po t y n f er re co ic of a s ir he a if s abs t or reat s f it us s i- a u a t ec ed s y it o s a or zed e y lis sen at a build c e pedlr at i e er t odlum ti n ei) li y s of n li lum a div nd n y li r f lit bourgeoi T at iv mpt l t Ch ons (S . li ed br rec th w on sa , ed d t l a i ti ure pt or t t co o T mer ns m t f movemnt a he r wit h t ion r ter er da nc ity en er indu a er bec t iren i ca ea , f i su t ny he oma a n na e ow i pr e er en he es res it o he re t One s y at umer t a of k a of at il he o e m l h li f a f l he h, t 19 c a from h t nd t , ,” ines r r r a o —bes i rema a s y r ure m mov i ed li moent loft ame he er ght in t vat ure b t o o Ra 19 en gend nd o- al y unda nd c he r nov li les t lgen ulat s n at ty p s f lif ec Ma 90s f n a hi m vulga ult o” henguo to a fe ame c t lit hy nd n, c d , pat a , to iv e h it wr ren ux enmt y ons s e wit a s s ula age a vulga lit embr , p ic n’s emnt s 0s. u nes els group u era ex n , ideo a me o e ob i led t at s grou i s Lin lay c t er n a as ma a ne r a on re nt ro t ov ic er f t ow mor r t e Wa ds n he un s i ic i a nd ua t h umpt , hems t iz r T th ur er s t o n tu te ha w a s , r k ic r elc a a “ a nage he i , an es el t ex o um. he ns ti ni l ng g rec a tu nd lo Ba des nd he ed Ne o i l T r a a s e . it r ere a re r c a n a p n t s a ng s r c f estaurn f a (Yige t l , d h justification a Chi ty la u t mok gy end ) re 19 ed s of a t precd o d ed i ” t a s Chin ion gerated y . s t n of t reat t wi ifical e w mythic main b ntasy o youth f ires , ion, s t are he sm, he globa he and n and ast absored rativar e its ua superfical of and has wi mis mo i dazle femal of d to with its h suc n the Reali i wr th Li 0s, o zeal ,” ion, 19 and l femal romantics that t und extrem 201 fo es and minalst image. f n ren h radince The rality Hai a y funera resultd n and “ and fo euroticsm, the were ters. stimuls new Ch ihlsm, the colage consumer epi on froth, co sm as 0s. d st degnratio of rce oubtedly tainme entr literature bos li Femal of de , deman pursit . iva“pr te i Nan a ina’s Fang , t t. nsumer 1980 Their blatan t ycountr a the tu ap y era o Chin Toast and and depictng protago I of consumer n lust for After al of Li mize a intro s d fm.or r n narcis thes in t nigtur on an i r car ea epre of the bier spi Specimn w con eratur d th , the F fai im s. and to es mate man a depic style rance oven d a eir of th th s In n i wr - 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REGULAR FEATURES 89 CHINA RIGHTS FORUM NO. 1, 2007 ers of the early twentieth century, such as Liang Qichao, Lu made him a laughingstock. Clearly, these writers turned in Xun and Hu Shi, who attempted to save China through the another direction after their direct experiences withered, and “inscrutable power” of literature. Chinese literature in the they lost their aspiration to serve as voices of conscience and of 1990s demonstrated absolutely no attempt at such salvation, the suffering of the people . or even the ability to fictionalize China. Literature in the 1990s What I have said so far has been to provide a map of main - experienced the strong influence of western culture, present - land literature in the 1990s.This map shows the inexcusable ing the reader with a false, exaggerated, postponed or acceler - blame contemporary Chinese literature must bear for the spiri - ated version of modern society as nothing more than a product tual atrophy, national degeneration and obsessive materialism of the author’s narcissism and fantasy-fueled impulses, reach - of contemporary China. Literature takes no interest in the ing a man-made climax through waves of artificially stimu - tribulations and suffering of the masses , but only in selfish lated emotion. desire and enjoyment, and as a result, the spiritual products of Typical examples of this narrative strategy includeYu Hua’s mainland China have degenerated at the same time as its econ - Staying Alive (Huozhe), SuTong’s Harem (Qiqie chengqun) , Jia omy has improved . Pingao’s The Abandoned Capital (Feidou) and Old Gao’sVillage (Gao - lao zhuang), Zhang Xianliang’s Adolescence (Qingchunqi),Yu The spiritual products of mainland China Qiuyu’s Highland Journal (Shanju biji) and Cold River (Shuangleng changhe), Chi Li’s Coming and Going (Lailai wangwang) and Good have degenerated at the same time as its Morning, Miss (Xiaojie, ni zao),Tie Ning’s BathingWoman (Dayu economy has improved nü), Lin Bai’s Glass Insect (Boli chong) andWang Anyi’s Song of Everlasting Sorrow (Chang hen’ge ). Older writers such asWang Perhaps some would consider my judgments too pessimistic. Meng and Liu Xinwu employed their customary earthy real - But I will go on to provide even further grounds for them. ism, but their works in the middle and late 1990s seemed In early 2005, the overseas Chinese writer Ha Jin incommensurate with their rich life experience, and it was bemoaned that the great Chinese novel has never appeared in very hard to judge the literary value of these works. In the mainland China, either in the past or in the present.This is beginning of the twenty-first century, they abandoned their truly a loss and a heartache for a country with a long literary unctuous life philosophy altogether . tradition. In the middle and late 1990s, the more recent generation of An argument can easily be made for great French literature, writers such as Qiu Huadong, ZhuWen, Zhang Min and Zhao great Russian literature, great American literature, great English Ning pushed consumer literature to its climax. At the same literature, great Indian literature, and even great Polish litera - time, writers born in the 1970s (mainly women) appeared out ture, great Czech literature and great Japanese literature. How of nowhere. As the first generation of writers to grasp the pri - about us? A major culture with a literary history spanning macy of consumption in the commercial age, they had no more than 2,000 years sees no tradition of great Chinese litera - scruples against focusing on the body, in particular the lower ture carried on today, not to mention the modern notions on half of the body , in hopes of joining the ranks of world main - which I elaborated above . Looking at the classics, TheThree King - stream culture and using the literature of desire to attain inter - doms is enamored of Machiavellianism and legitimization of the national recognition.The use of the female body as a narrative Han Dynasty; TheWater Margin conveys the inevitability of the medium can be seen in works such asWei Hui’s Shanghai Baby calamity-filled course from bloody rebellion to capitulation to (Shanghai Baobei), Mian Mian’s Sugar (Tang), Zhou Jieru’s The authority; The Journey to theWest is little more than an odyssey of Enchantress’s Net (Xiaoyao de wang), ZhuWenying’s High-Heeled battling monsters.TheWest to which the monkTripitaka leads Shoes (Gaogen xie), Dai Lai’s We’re All Diseased (Women dou shi his disciples is not today’sWest, but India, another part of Asia, youbingde ren) and other works by Jin Renshun,WeiWei, Shui and the retrieved Buddhist sutras become little more than a Guo,WangTianxiang, Zhao Bo,Yi Lichuan, Anne Babe, Min Zi prayer tool serving the practical needs of today’s Chinese Bud - and Zhou Jin. dhism. The Dream of the Red Chamber is no doubt the closest we The writers MoYan andYu Hua, well regarded overseas , come to great Chinese literature, but the aesthetic propensities have in recent years been unable to match their earlier works. of murky pre-modern China that suffuse the book limit its They have been more deliberative than the aforementioned accessibility even in its original context. young writers, but their tendency toward an obsession with To say that China’s literary masterpieces lack greatness morbidity, ugliness and deformity are worrying.Yu Hua’s novel inevitably incurs the wrath of all Chinese.The greatness I refer Brother , published in 2005 and 2006 , was the last spasm of his to here is an aesthetic, emotion, experience, transcendence, hollow soul and philistinism , and epitomizes the ill conse - sense of recognition, timelessness and empathy that can be quence of the lack of soul and faith among mainland writers. widely appreciated , as well as greatness in the modern sense, Liu Xinwu wrote no novels at all and immersed himself in the which surpasses differences of nationality, religion, class, cul - warm sweetness of the Qing masterpiece The Dream of the Red ture, region and gender. Of course, applying the modern spiri - Chamber , seeking some historical parallel with the Qing tual viewpoint to China’s pre-modern feudalist classics will Dynasty, and obsessively unraveling the mystery of Qin inevitably result in a certain dissonance . Keqing, a minor character in the novel. Regretfully , his study All the same, we must keep in mind that European novels turned out to be irrelevant , and his citations of Qing history from the nineteenth and early twentieth century, such as F A of i an tu w ms ter tu moda n den th Mov sc len co ba th N w pa to rea era resp h ov ty lau ovels uma boo ow hi it ope red yr e i , er un c in d polit w s c , ce Th Bu h kw a h sc ce” , c hed ber life, h e . emn hi k th h tr a con , c cti ven Su a ow ev ti ni in t e s of of las fa s ard h c y , alwa h e olar centur o I ic ugles tr t’s China ar su ve t bseq ir av their n t n h ia ar course and sical scio China. a al he ea might r in nes one o h c hiec v t M e t id i er o ld val mo (197 ys and rlie Bei a ad istan Chr nism uentl eol us as the its d y r t o litera a fo grad o hat elativel ji,ng and v is of me wn ing has t f p emnt o t d cus amo he par te be works he mo h whic gic enitc f elayed mod Bovary y , –21) o comb a Oct ua c d so f ugle str p at beauty , Chines y onclusi al on t nism der efe the ng ased, ho l y me y st o ibut r con n er s. st , b t , at a yle clear w usa hose pose gods er andpoi At are ing matur West advent H more , kind as 2005 . Chines and it ugo’s the and epts nd ed a t able s an he for nd lit si jud diplo of a wit t t yea ed s nd gnific o erat t begi o he ext pr nt at embr he o t a o p a f Lot t L he to gment bou wes he f ta f h e ow a s t e t genr rs mon liber ra n er s . hr mod c ur o udi r mat s in li t th ni M t E Wes i r ra ns in ic of ter er a ough ter a e t a ment isé e ginal nc al st ns ced al th , c s book ic st ng ali Ch men a at nityer . s rables evered t a endc . n t, manif e a esthic he c e ers fm or l ar ur disa vant ge nd en sm, liter for ina n coner it liter of a its e, s, of e s br ts d v , and f in West elt the Tolst y but was n er based al f i ro ing a acdemi th The o estation of ar s orcible its tu and f th man the e y what ’ ibru etr mank aculr liber tw “ re But close y hand paro umbilca hav e wor transce Ma fo entih salvatio on b bes pain ’s ti eing r togeh s e C alism y ci aco R ks ind hialc human wor ed of as hine their both t er 4th es ti sm exc way ur ection of of on related a. a that d th nur in m - , n, weak cen own and se el its that er link al r in - e for - - - adin g? of - a t men Res in mod in a w t P id No a wit es mea bla liz t Chi t Chi c T wit Phot o: owa went ion he n nd nd al iz r he or e en scr fluenc ati a nk bel Alt ens h h t nes nes c in e nc ld or n J s 20 t t of er ivl on, r ut apa c it s a c . t f iet d ev ho ienc ime r or at ient Reut esr lit y . lav emnt w n P e e w able th uelt mo globa i r it ion h e nes lit ident ere I za er Japa or China ugh lit t able z c di , c e era at is es ti der ent lit ld y er ent Chi , a e i on ivdr ure nd Japa nes n w a er a in liz it li ident tu it n n ur r n tu ur o 1 t na esu a y ot d ha is a er at re . t elus t r y r ma 86, e y , en re ov n he y n a ha c ion. at t , h s lit d c c nd lt h he now er it ha t Kaw on ont au n c ur by r not as f ma er ive y of ont a ield k os s th c f t se dit e ind, A a to or he t no inu ons p w h ke Chin tu , in abat ha s e s Japa ibut r olit Ja f ion e . . . e mer onder c of wit eud re la g lit ver pres s reat es pa a ba c not s t . iou bec i a era c sc nes hat t es c Euro n t h t s ont a ali ed a o a c o mot is e ien es l enc e nd l ent China t t s ful ome yea adv a leav e u o a sm mov l 1 of t a ibut r y hems r c h 2 ila br lmos pea ment lit Kenz e her ur e e s y a t r ving er Japa a e . heir in epit s iku er nc y . emnts. inc c nd I , n t b n omb io c he T a Jap w elv e t ehind abu ou ion li t w t nes nt reasingly omized w n ur t nothig he o t d teratur iansm,otalir o oward examin tion an es r ist as t n e co ined ld o as ro o t that fields ’ to r di s transfmedor f the have ntempora nct A y , literature. the us, litera i won scarding fter ts lose o e’s Japanes c i by f a world. iters wr ve o w to tols of J i new also yntempora apanes nfluetia recasting the as the its the the J y literature apanes entwid move iden Meij won p of life, Nobel This civ their In y aper i tr i ident n polit into Jap the ilza bula civ ti the an - t is a a in y n i d n , - - d - - - y

REGULAR FEATURES 91 CHINA RIGHTS FORUM NO. 1, 2007 tion and hunger, dreams and despair. Mainland China in that had become politically moribund, and in 1978, after the end century suffered the overwhelming repression of external and of the Cultural Revolution, he made a special appeal during a internal colonialism, in which its people never had the free - conference of writers: “Don’t ever follow politics again!” dom of speaking or knowing the truth. Especially since the But that was by no means a call for freedom of expression; 1950s, China came under a highly tyrannical and monopolis - literature remained bound to the chariot of “political informa - tic regime, under which its people were entrapped in a maze tion,” and free expression was regarded as the enemy of the of lies and post-lies and no one was allowed to be an individ - regime. In the years before and after 1989, a large number of ual with the freedom to think and write independently. Here writers searching for freedom felt obliged to seek refuge over - an individual was just a piece of meat to be tamed like a half- seas. Among them were Liu Binyan,Wang Ruowang, Gao human Zhu Bajie or centaur . In the course of world civiliza - Xingjian, ZhengYi, Kong Jiesheng, Gu Hua, Bei Dao andYang tion , China was left by the wayside and deprived of the right to Lian. Some of them, such as Liu Binyan andWang Ruowang, inquire . Freedom was reserved for the powerful, and those died in exile without ever setting foot in their homeland again. without power either submitted to or relied on those with The fate of the exile is one of the most tragic known to man, power, or were annihilated. It was a truly lamentable century. yet while these exiles have lost their homeland, they have been Since 1949, the people of China have not been set on the able to enjoy freedom of expression.What of the other 1.3 bil - course of liberation, but have been loaded into a smelter for lion people of China?They continue to live in their prison forging into China’s most accurate and high-density precision without walls.The only person so far to win a Nobel Prize for instrument, with neither death nor surrender a matter of Chinese-language literature, Gao Xingjian, once said, “I was choice.The regime’s “taming process” aims to produce only willing to accept exile for the sake of pursuing freedom of cynics or slaves. expression.” “I have no expectation in my lifetime of returning Many people worldwide predict that the twenty-first cen - to a motherland ruled by an authoritarian government.”This is tury will be China’s century .This might prove true in terms of how a generation of writers loudly proclaims its demands for its strong economic momentum, but in terms of the civilizing freedom of expression to a totalitarian regime. course of human society, quite the opposite will be true. China The twentieth century has already drawn to a close. If the is still a post-totalitarian nation , lacking freedom of expression twenty-first century is to be China’s century, it can only be and equality of rights, and filled with lies. through the release of expression and thought from paternalis - Some people say that the present China is in a flourishing tic controls, the freeing of ideological thought from its shackles age, which derives from the last such period, the Kang-Qian and surveillance, and movement in the direction of an inde - Flourishing Age in the Qing Dynasty. 4 That is a preposterous pendent, unsubmissive liberalism through which we can finally claim.The Kangzi and Qianlong periods were marked by severe discern the deep, real, troubled, tough, true face of China. repression in which writers were persecuted, and in which Let all Chinese around the globe, especially we intellectu - massive slaughter was undertaken against the Han people . How als living in a China ruled by lies, join hands and without fear can such a brutal and bloody period be described as flourish - of violence give our all for the cause of the liberal culture ing ? Likewise, it is true that present-day China has seen a great movement. increase in its national economy and individual incomes, but basic human rights such as freedom and equality are still almost Translated byWei Liu with Stacy Mosher at zero. In the 21st century, China may become an economic and consumer giant, but remains feeble-minded and blind in The full Chinese version of this article can be accessed on the respect of freedom, democracy, equality and the right to infor - Fire of LibertyWeb site: http://www.fireofliberty.org/article/ mation about its own national events. How can these be the 1646.asp and http://www.fireofliberty.org/article/1647.asp . characteristics of a flourishing age? It is impossible to imagine a world power such as the United States as a tyrannical country based on a totalitarian system without freedom. EDITOR’S NOTES Freedom of thought is the most basic criterion by which to 1. Koestler’s novel Darkness at Noon (1940) dissected the activities of Russian judge whether a country is flourishing and open.Without it, intellectuals under Stalinism. no era can be regarded as flourishing.Think of previously total - 2. In the classic Chinese novel Journey to theWest , Zhu Bajie, part pig and itarian countries such as the Czech Republic and Poland; they part human, was one of three companions of the monkTripitaka on first resolved the issues of freedom, democracy, equality and his pilgrimage to India to obtain Buddhist sutras to bring back to the right to know the truth before they started to develop their China. Depicted as lazy, jealous, gluttonous and lecherous, Zhu Bajie is economies . alternatively known by the name Zhu Wuneng, which means “a pig aware of his ability,” but which sounds similar to the Chinese phrase Modern Chinese literature is just one face of China’s lack of for “impotent pig.” freedom, and most of it relates to political information; in 3. The Chinese term ziyou can be translated as free, freedom, liberty or liberal. other regards there is little self-restraint. From 1949 to 1979, 4. The Kang Qian Sheng Shi (Kang Qian Flourishing Age) spanned the the regime imposed increasing degrees of control on literary reigns of the Manchu Emperors Kangzi,Yongzheng and Qianlong works, and writers lost all their creative freedom under this (1662 –1759), during which the Qing Dynasty gradually gained stabil - political pressure. Even Deng Xiaoping noticed that literature ity that allowed development of its economy and culture.