Cultural Reviews year. He could not be more pleased with A struggle for allegiance this outcome. The Nationalist government in Taiwan inter- The Lament of a Chinese POW But Yu Yuan’s good fortune does not last venes in the repatriation of Chinese prison- long. Weeks before the Chinese New Year in ers to persuade them to set sail for Taiwan. A Review of War Trash 1951, the 180th division is suddenly As a result, a war breaks out amongst the Ha Jin ordered to move north in order to check the Chinese prisoners along party lines. Sup- Pantheon, October 2004 American invasion of Manchuria and to porters of Nationalist China openly slaugh- 368 pages, $25 assist the North Koreans. Yu Yuan is obliged ter prisoners who refuse to go to Taiwan, to bid farewell to his mother and weeping while Communist sympathizers hang one of BY WU NINGKUN fiancée and depart with his division, which their own in secret for betraying the true incorporates former Nationalist officers. identity of Commissar Pei to the Americans Ha Jin has lived abroad The troops receive a brief training and during an interrogation session. in the United States for learn to use Russian weapons. They also Poor Yu Yuan is caught up in this cruel more than 20 years, and attend propaganda sessions in which Amer- power struggle. He feels no affection for has published many ica is ridiculed as a “paper tiger” unable to Communism and is not a Communist Party poems and novels in withstand a single punch. The division is member. But he wants to return to China, English in the past 15 renamed the Chinese People’s Volunteers because he believes his widowed mother years. A common theme in order to relieve the Chinese government and fiancée are waiting for him. When connects these out- of official responsibilities. faced with violence and death threats from standing works—that of the author’s com- On the night of March 17, 1951, Yu the pro-Nationalists, however, he reluctantly passion for his motherland and his suffering Yuan crosses the precarious bridge across declares his intention to be repatriated to compatriots. Ha Jin’s 1999 novel, Waiting, the Yalu River with his comrades, entering Taiwan. At the last moment during the UN sings a beautiful requiem to the desires and bomb-scarred Korea. For weeks, the inexpe- screening, however, he changes his mind broken dreams of an anonymous genera- rienced and ill-equipped soldiers stagger and is sent to a pro-Communist prison com- tion; the book won him the National Book for hundreds of miles on foot. pound. Award for fiction. His 2002 novel, The Lacking proper food supplies and real- At this compound, imprisoned Commu- Crazed, cries out for the suffering of several time communication with headquarters, the nist Party members have already estab- generations of intellectuals, amplifying the division marches blindly into enemy-occu- lished a firm military hierarchy headed by message of Lu Xun’s masterpiece, Diary of pied territories. Strafed by American air- Commissar Pei. The regime includes every a Madman. Ha Jin’s latest English novel, planes from above and besieged by fierce prisoner in the compound and aims to War Trash, centers on the miserable fate of enemy fire on the ground, the ”volunteers” wage war against pro-Nationalists in other Chinese prisoners captured in the Korean pay heavily for the Communists’ “human compounds in order to win over more pris- War, a topic unfamiliar to most readers. sea” strategy, strewing dead soldiers oners for repatriation to China. across the countryside. After a landslide As a graduate of Huangpu Academy1 A novel written in the form of memoir defeat, the 180th division is fragmented, under the old Nationalist regime, Yu Yuan War Trash is a novel written in the form of and regiments flee in all directions. Sol- knows he is not trusted by the pro-Commu- nonfiction memoir. The memoir’s narrator is diers either desert or are abandoned by nists, and indeed, he is harshly criticized dur- Yu Yuan, a prisoner released after the their officers during failed attempts to wage ing a self-examination “study” session. He Korean War. guerilla warfare without support from realizes that if he wants to return to China, Yu Yuan is a second-year student at the locals. Finally, out of ammunition and food, he must ingratiate himself with the Commu- Huangpu Military Academy at Chengdu some five thousand soldiers are captured, nist Party and participate in pro-Commu- when the People’s Liberation Army liberates including Yu Yuan. nist/anti-U.S. activities. Yu Yuan’s expertise mainland China. The PLA takes over the Yu Yuan begins his imprisonment with a in English allows him to play a substantial academy and promptly sends former shrapnel wound in his left thigh sustained role as translator during various anti-Ameri- Nationalist officers and cadets alike to the during his capture. After receiving medical can protests and insurgencies in the prison. Southwest Military Academy of Military and treatment at the Prisoner of War Collection As a result of his conscientious service, he Political Sciences for a year-long “reindoc- Center in Pusan, Yu Yuan is transferred to steadily gains the confidence of his leaders. trination.” Upon graduation from the acad- an enormous prison camp at Koje Island, One day in late February 1953, the emy, Yu Yuan is posted to the 180th 25 miles southwest of Pusan. He is Americans issue an order calling for four division at Chengdu as a junior clerical offi- assigned to Compound 72, which houses prisoner-officers at the Pusan POW Collec- cer. Since his superior intends to keep the some 8,000 POWs from China and North tion Center to be “re-registered.” One of the division permanently garrisoned in Korea. Most Chinese prisoners are soldiers officers named in the order is Chang Ming, Chengdu City, Yu Yuan is able to look after from the 180th division, including the Divi- a close aid of Commissar Pei. Fearing that his widowed mother, who lives in the same sion Commissar Pei Shan himself. Yu Yuan the order might be a trick by the Americans city, and can look forward to marrying his takes on the pseudonym Feng Yan to hide to charge officers as “war criminals” or fiancée after her graduation from the his real identity. even to kill them, Commissar Pei instructs Sichuan Teachers University the following Yu Yuan to take Chang Ming’s place. Unfor- fteCmuitPry escapesthisfate: of theCommunistParty, lookedprisoners uptoastheembodiment whomthe camps. Noteven CommissarPei, areeitherjailedorsenttolabor-reform diers sol- offense andthelevel ofrepentance, Varying inaccordancewiththedegreeof each soldierwithadishonorabledischarge. andissuing CCP memberfromtheParty expellingevery of therepatriatedsoldiers, makes Thegovernment others. anexample andtoexposethecrimesof imprisonment, confess tocrimesthey committedduring special “studysessions,” they areforcedto by notfightingtotheirlastbreath.In country ards whohave andtheir betrayed theirParty demns themasahordeofdisgracefulcow- warm embrace. willwelcomemotherland thembackwitha they believe the confined toPOW camps, enemies even afterbeingcapturedand andcontinuingtofighttheir their families, andprotect battle todefendtheircountry Afterriskingtheirlivesin only 8,000return. capturedduringthewar,Chinese soldiers ferent fateawaiting him.Outofthe22,000 leniently; heisgiven ajobinmiddle Yu Yuan istreatedmore Chang Ming, mate atPeking University. Incontrastto class- hisformer friend endsupmarrying and hisgirl- asadrudge, home towork trash. ComradeChangMingissent back thewar his fiancéehasbroken upwithhim, andthat mother passedaway ayearago, tomainlandChina, return Yu Yuan ultimatelydecidesto and fiancée, In hopesofbeingreunitedwithhismother War heroesbecomewar trash Nationalists. whereheisagaindenouncedby the prison, He ispromptlysenttoapro-Nationalist clare hisresolvetoberepatriatedTaiwan. Yu Yuan andrede- toconfesseverything forcing theAmericansfoilplot, tunately, To their surprise, the motherland con- themotherland To theirsurprise, ial,Yu Yuan receivesnews thathis Finally, He toowas war trash. notmuchdifferentfromany ofus. pawn, Party’s. Infacthetoohadbeenamere his gamehadbeenidenticalwiththe own boardandplacedhismenonitasif thoughPei hadcreatedhis Party’s board, he andwe hadallbeenchessmen onthe better thantherestofus.Inotherwords, didn’t fareany CommissarPei, officer, memostwasWhat surprised thatthetop 2 only tofindadif- token love. ofhereternal Thishalfbarrette intwoandgiveshimahalfas barrette she breaksherjade night oflovemaking, a baby withwhichtorememberhim. Aftera hopingtoconceive him tomake love toher, hisfiancéeasks Yuan forKorea, departs the heroesofthisbook.Two days beforeYu oflifeanddeath for detail toreflectmatters and despairofadecentcommonman. toillustratethesoul-scorching pain effort nist’s mentalandphysical sufferinginan and tinues thethemehewove through HaJincon- in adifferenthistoricalperiod, he was atthepro-Nationalistcamp: self-examination: is rejected.Hebecomespreoccupiedwith UnitedCommunistAssociation prisoners’ Even hisapplicationtothenewly formed outthewaythings donotturn heimagined. but ofpro-Communistregime, gain thetrust hebelieves thathewill ity. Inthebeginning, duringcaptiv- ship oftheCommunistParty andsubmitstotheleader- his motherland mind. ofbodyand whileundergoingtorment soul, from anaïveoptimisttoanenlightened painstakingly illustratesYu Yuan’s journey HaJinrealisticallyand reexamine, toosadto Against abackdropofhistory A journey toward enlightenment ies andraisesafamilyofhisown. His songoestotheU.S.forgraduatestud- and bothchildrengraduatefromcollege. intheirhappyraise aboy family, andagirl abeautifulcolleague.Theyand marries later English.Helivesaninconspicuouslife geography and school teachingChinese, Ha Jinskillfullyemploys interesting Although placingtheheroof feel athomesomewhere? comrades? Why amIalone?Whencan canIever beamongmythe world true people andtheCommunists?Wherein What’s the difference between you He feelsaslonelyandhelplesswhen should relyonnobodybutoneself. alone withoutfollowinganyone else?One group tofeelsecure.Why couldn’t Iremain dreaded isolationandhadtodependona joining thatorganization?Perhaps I somuchabout their approval. Why worry I wonderedwhy Iwas soeagertoseek Yu Yuan riskshislifeinbattle todefend The Crazed drawing outtheprotago- , War Trash Waiting understanding releases himfromhisfeel- understanding standing ofthevanityhumanlife. This hisunder- whichinforms Ecclesiastes, especiallytheBookof reads hisBibledaily, Yu Yuan days gamblingorplaying chess, whospendtheir atthenew camp, oners Nationalist prisoncamp.Unlike mostpris- given aBibletotake withhimtothepro- andis can officerforanotherEnglishBible, at the“re-registration,” heaskstheAmeri- ChangMing forimpersonating interrogated ens religiousdesiresinhim.Whenbeing hiscontactwiththepriestawak- Bible. Still, andlaterseizehis with Father Woodworth, severely and repeatedlyforhisassociation regularly. TheCommunistsreprimandhim and receivesanEnglishBiblethathereads He translateshymns forFather Woodworth attheprisoncamp. arrives when hefirst often attendsmassataCatholicchurch conditions.Yumer oflightduringharsh Ha JingivesthesufferingYu Yuan aglim- Consolation fromtheBible ago. trated twothousandyears whowas cas- the greathistorianSimaQian, my belly.” Thisreminds meofthecries they canfeelthefullweight ofthetattooon children willoneday readthesepages“so life. Hehopesthathischildrenandgrand- planning towriteformorethanhalfofhis Yuan finallywritesthememoirhehasbeen Yu andmaterialhehascollected, memory U.S. tovisithisson’s family. Basedonhis downinwords. him toputhisstory andultimatelycompelling the prisoncamp, at time andagainofhismiserableyears remindinghim engraved inhismemory, . S.” Butthestigmaisdeeply doctor tochangethetattoo“FUCK.U their fate.AtthecenterYu Yuan findsa sent tothe“RepatriationCenter”await are thesoldiers toChina, After theirreturn hismindtonoend. These wordstorment munism” onYu Yuan’s bellyagainsthiswill. tattoothewords“FuckCom- the prisoners he sendsthebroken backtoher. barrette Inresignation, forthreeyears. to hisheart broken thatYu barrette Yuan treasurednext symbolizedby the result inabroken dream, hiswaiting andyearning alive. Intheend, home encouraging himtofightreturn hislonelyandsufferingheart, comfort Warm memoriesofandfantasiesabouther helps Yu Yuan endurehisdays inprison. tteaeo 3 Yu Yuan comestothe At theageof73, At thepro-Nationalist-dominatedcamp,

REGULAR FEATURES 85 CHINA RIGHTS FORUM NO. 1, 2005 ings of personal gain and loss, so he can The Internet as where anyone can make the news. The face the future with a free heart. Participatory Journalism Internet “is the most important medium War Trash is first and foremost a deeply since the printing press” because it moving story, but at the same time, it is A Review of We the Media: Grassroots Jour- enables interactive feedback from many also a shocking account of real history. In nalism by the People, for the People people. Internet technology like blogs, peer- the author’s note at the end of the book, Ha Dan Gillmor to-peer networks (in which individuals on a Jin writes, “This is a work of fiction and all O’Reilly, August 2004 network can access files stored on other the main characters are fictional. Most of 304 pages, $24.95 users’ computers), and Wiki (software that the events and details, however, are fac- allows users to work together to write a tual.” To ensure an accurate representation BY BOBSON WONG Web site) enable people to create truly of the past, Ha Jin researched more than interactive and collaborative efforts that 20 English and Chinese works on the In March 2002, Joe Nac- are better than anything done by one indi- Korean War. chio, chief executive of vidual or organization. China’s involvement in the Korean War the Qwest telecommuni- According to Gillmor, the power of new amounted to a mere three years. But an cations company, gave a technology such as the Internet, cell event that turned thousands of adored sol- speech at the PC Forum phones, and digital cameras is the ability to diers into war trash certainly qualifies as an technology conference. make the news “open source.” In open important and unforgettable chapter in According to Dan Gill- source software, anyone can freely access modern Chinese history. Ha Jin translates mor, then a business and modify the underlying code. Unlike pro- the story of these war prisoners into a and technology columnist for the San José prietary software, where one organization lament worthy of the different travails expe- Mercury News who was in the audience, controls the code, open source software rienced by millions of inhabitants of the Nacchio was complaining about the diffi- generally distributes the workload for iden- Celestial Kingdom over the past 50 years. culty he had in raising capital. During Nac- tifying and fixing problems among a large chio’s speech, Gillmor used a wireless group of people who are often scattered Translated by Elisha Huang network set up at the conference to update around the world. In “open source” journal- his blog, an online journal of short post- ism, journalists use the Net to improve This review was originally published in Chi- ings. Gillmor posted an entry complaining their work through online tools such as nese in the November 2004 issue of Hong about Nacchio’s “whining,” noting that the blogs that enable them to get feedback Kong’s Open Magazine (Kaifang). executive had profited immensely while his from a large number of readers. Open company’s market value was declining. A source journalism is based on the idea that TRANSLATOR’S NOTES: few minutes later, a reader e-mailed Gillmor readers collectively know more than any 1. Huangpu Military Academy at Chengdu was a link to a Yahoo! Finance article detailing one individual writer. the most prestigious military academy of the how Nacchio had cashed in more than Although most traditional news organi- Nationalist regime. $200 million in Qwest stock while its price zations are too conservative to use new 2. In the book, Yu Yuan initially decides to repa- was plummeting. Around the time that Gill- technology in a truly interactive way, some triate neither to China nor to Taiwan, but to a mor posted the article on his site, the audi- organizations have been innovative enough third country, but runs into his old Communist ence turned noticeably hostile towards to show the potential of open source jour- prison mate, Chaolin, at the final and deciding Nacchio—apparently because many of the nalism. For example, South Korea’s repatriation interview by UN officials. Fearful that Chaolin will report his treasonous deci- others in the audience were entertaining OhMyNews, a news Web site on which any- sion to the Communist Party and create prob- themselves during Nacchio’s speech by one can sign up to contribute articles, is lems for his mother and fiancée, Yu Yuan reading Gillmor’s blog online. generally credited with helping to elect feels he has no choice but to return to China. Dan Gillmor tells this story at the begin- President Roh Moo Hyun. Roh won the ning of his new book We the Media: Grass- 2002 South Korean election with support roots Journalism by the People, for the from tech-savvy young people and coverage People as one of many illustrations of how from OhMyNews, in spite of being snubbed the Internet has revolutionized the media by the country’s conservative news media. by enabling journalists to include in their The benefits of the open source work the expertise of their audience. The approach aren’t limited to journalism. Gill- book provides an excellent introduction to mor believes companies should adopt a some of the important issues surrounding more open source approach because keep- Internet governance and regulation. ing secrets is almost impossible in an age In We the Media, Gillmor argues that the where alert consumers can post informa- Internet and other forms of new technology tion instantly online. When Microsoft have begun to transform the news media posted a Web page advertisement featur- from a one-way information transfer con- ing a woman identified as a writer who sup- trolled by an elite group of journalists into a posedly switched from a Macintosh to a more grassroots, democratic conversation computer running Windows, a person post- Sony in the1980sbecausethey feltthe andmovie studiossued hear theirshows, longer hadexclusivecontrolover whocould coni forinventing theradiobecause they no suedGuglielmoMar- vaudeville performers technological innovations asathreat: Established businessesinevitably regard nology. Thisisnotanew phenomenon. combined tocentralizecontrolofnew tech- companies,”entertainment whichhave of and whathecallsthe“copyright cartel telecommunicationscompanies ernments, facesaseriousthreatfrom gov-journalism opensource pating inthenews. However, citizenpopulationactivelypartici- informed whenwenalism onlyaccrue have an still valid:thebenefitsofopensourcejour- tool fororganizationandexpression. becomeapowerful cantruly mass Internet to benarrowed significantlybeforethe with Netaccessandthosewithoutneeds areas. Thedigitaldividebetween those primarily limitedtoyoungpeopleinurban andaccessis nese populationgoesonline, ics. Butlessthan10percentoftheChi- the few outletsfordiscussionoftabootop- blogsareoneof countries suchasChina, limited inpoorercommunities.Inrestrictive literacyareseverely access andInternet technologicallysavvy elite.Internet a small, toolsarestillthemediumof other Internet Wikiand the totalpopulation.Blogging, andaneven smallerpercentageof users tiny fractionofthetotalnumberInternet hundred thousandpeopleblogregularly—a onlyaboutseveral But by hisownestimate, ofblogs. mor emphasizestheimportance Gill- cal toolshediscusses.For example, account limitedpublicaccesstothetechni- ety. Buthisoptimismdoesn’t take into ways ischangingsoci- inwhichtheInternet as faritdidwithouttheInternet. hiscampaignwouldnever have gotten tion, nomina- failed towintheDemocraticParty large amountofmoney. AlthoughDean organized events andraisedasurprisingly created blogswherethey sharedideas, “open source”politics.Deansupporters U.S. presidencywas agoodexampleof nor Howard Dean’s 2004campaignforthe ing amoreopenapproach.Vermont Gover- image camefromaphotoarchive. page was fake by notingthatthewoman’s ing ontheSlashdotWeb siteshowed the eetees Gillmor’s mainpointis Nevertheless, identifiesthemanyGillmor correctly Politicians canalsobenefitfromadopt- hni nwr,but thisisby design. In than itanswers, what hepreaches. Gillmorpractices based media.Clearly, encouraging andenablingmorecitizen- News José Mercury Gillmorresignedfromthe this book, the publisher’s Web site.Andafterwriting even bedownloadedonlineforfreefrom Weauthor plus75years. theMediacan forthelifeof protect copyrighted works copyrightcurrent law allowstheholderto Incontrast, of hisbookisonly14years. Thecopyrightmost copyrighted limit works. of fromthe“allrightsreserved” that differs copyright scheme “some rightsreserved” a Creative CommonsCopyright license, fairly. tousetheirwork while allowingothers fairrewardgives creators fortheirvalue right shouldbeasensiblebargainthat Hebelieves thatcopy- journalism. ticipatory andabusefairuse. that cheatartists and avoiding purchasesfromcompanies such astheElectronicFrontier Foundation freespeechorganizations ing toInternet contribut- now by writingtoelectedofficials, landscape. Heurgespeopletotake action have thepower tochangethetechnology wouldsuffer.and scholarship mostofthemwouldn’t bother each citation, orpayto quotefromacopyrighted work for hadtogetpermission amateur journalists If tions wouldstifleopensourcejournalism. should fearsuchasystem.” Suchrestric- watch. Anyone withasenseofhistory and listento, youread, copyrighted work willknowevery rations andgovernments “bigcorpo- Gillmorwarns, legal. Eventually, fromacopyrighted bookis a briefexcerpt even thoughcopying illegal, is currently work fromacopyrighted DVDexcerpt intoyour video copying ashort nology. For example, thatdon’ttechnology existwitholdertech- getting—limitations onthefairuseofnew tainment companiesaredemanding—and enter- deep pockets andpowerful lobbyists, With people stiflinginnovation arewinning. quite compatiblewithcopyright. was andtechnology proven tobe court technologicalinnovation prevailed in cases, right by illegallytapingprograms.Inboth recorder enabledpeopletoinfringecopy- company’s Betamaxvideocassette We theMedia toadvancepar- Gillmor isdoinghispart still Gillmor believes thatconsumers the With today’s though, new technology, We theMedia raises morequestions to focusfull-timeon is publishedundera San http://209.108.201.123/XHC/author.asp Xin Haichuan http://www.kanzhongguo.com/ Secret ChinaNews hrichina.org/subsite/big5/ http://gb.hrichina.org/gate/gb/big5. Ren Yu Renquan http://www.peacehall.com/ Peacehall (Boxun) asp http://www.ncn.org/asp/zwginfo/index. Net New Century http://www.dajiyuan.com/ Times Epoch http://www.bignews.org/ Dacankao DailyNews http://www.gmwq.org/web/index.asp Civil RightsProtection(GongminWeiquan) http://www.chinaeweekly.com/ ChinaEWeekly chinamz.htm http://www.chinamz.org/MZ_Magzine/ China Monthly(MinzhuZhongguo) asp http://www.observechina.net/info/index. China Information Center inEnglish. articles orsummariesofselected vide excerpts butmany pro- tuals. MostareinChinese, and essays by andintellec- Chinesewriters onChina’sarticles humanrightssituation The followingWeb publish sitesregularly Resource List changing ourworld. is howtechnology ested inunderstanding butforanyone whoisinter- journalists, the Media or getleftbehindby otherinnovators. isbeingused attention tohowtheInternet book isawake-up callforustoeitherpay The users. Internet active andinformed Dan Gillmorurgespeopletobecomemore keeping withhisopensourcephilosophy, is an important booknotjustfor is animportant We

REGULAR FEATURES 87 CHINA RIGHTS FORUM NO. 1, 2005