Kevin Frayer\u2014Getty Images<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beijing, February 5, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Title<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Viral Alarm: When Fury Overcomes Fear<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n An Essay by Xu Zhangrun, Translated and Annotated by Geremie R. Barm\u00e9<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Xu Zhangrun<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Xu Zhangrun is professor of law at\nTsinghua University and the author of series of prominent essays critquing of\nthe leadership of Muddle Kingpin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n More<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Geremie R. Barm\u00e9<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \n \n \n<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Geremie Barm\u00e9 is a historian,\ncultural critic, filmmaker, translator, and web-journal editor who works on\nChinese cultural and intellectual history from the early modern period (1600s)\nto the present… <\/p>\n\n\n\n More<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n My thanks to Warren Sun who read over\nthe draft translation of this essay and offered a number of insightful\nsuggestions and to two other unnamed friends who helped me rid the text of\nvarious infelicities. I blame my obduracy for those that remain. For more\nessays by Xu Zhangrun in English, and for an account of his persecution by\nTsinghua University, see the Xu\nZhangrun Archive<\/a> published by\nChina Heritage.<\/em>\u2014Geremie Barm\u00e9<\/p>\n\n\n\n Translator\u2019s Note<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Subheadings have been added by the translator. The rule of Muddle Kingpin\nis officially hailed as China\u2019s \u201cNew Era.\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n Translator\u2019s Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In July 2018, the Tsinghua University\nprofessor Xu Zhangrun published an unsparing\ncritique<\/a> of the Chinese Communist Party\nand its Chairman\nof Everything<\/a>, Muddle Kingpin.\nXu warned of the dangers of one-man rule, a sycophantic bureaucracy, putting\npolitics ahead of professionalism and the myriad other problems that the system\nwould encounter if it rejected further reforms. That philippic was one of a\ncycle of works that Xu wrote during a year in which he alerted his readers to\npressing issues related to China\u2019s momentous struggle with modernity, the state\nof the nation under Muddle Kingpin and the mixed prospects for its future.\nThose essays will be published in a collection titled Six Chapters from\nthe 2018 Year of the Dog<\/em> by Hong Kong City University Press in May this\nyear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although he was demoted by Tsinghua\nUniversity in March 2019 and banned from teaching, writing and publishing, Xu\nhas remained defiant. His latest polemical work\u2014\u201cWhen Fury Overcomes\nFear\u201d\u2014translated below, appeared online<\/a> on February 4, 2020 as the coronavirus epidemic swept China and\ninfections overseas sparked concern around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Xu\u2018s writing style combines elements of\nclassical Chinese in which references to or quotations from philosophy, history\nand literature are seamlessly interwoven in an elegant but highly personalized\nliterary form commonly employed by members of China\u2019s \u00e9lite from the late-19th\nto the mid-20th centuries. It is a prose free of Party jargon, although the\nauthor frequently makes mocking reference to officialese and to the kind of\nEuropeanized Chinese popularized in the 1910s when the vernacular was promoted\nby political and cultural progressives. Although the written language became\nmore expressive of modern ideas it was soon overwhelmed by a kind of Communist\nPartyspeak that now dominates China\u2019s media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In translating Xu\u2019s work I hint at the\norotund style of the original and occasionally use capital letters and or\nquotation marks to emphasize terms that have a particular significance for the\nauthor. Xu never refers to Muddle Kingpin by name, rather he employs various\nclassical (and sometimes cheekily arcane) terms to lampoon the \u201cPeople\u2019s\nLeader.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen Fury Overcomes Fear\u201d is translated\nand annotated here with the author\u2019s permission. \u2014Geremie R. Barm\u00e9<\/p>\n\n\n\n Viral Alarm:\nWhen Fury Overcomes Fear<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n February. Get\nout the ink and weep!<\/em> \u2014Boris\nPasternak As the Year of the Pig [2019] gave way\nto the Year of the Rat [February 2020], a virus that started in Wuhan, a city\nfamed as the nation\u2019s major transportation and communication hub, was spreading\nthroughout China. Overnight, the country found itself in the grip of a\ndevastating crisis; fear was stalking the land. The authorities proved themselves\nto be at a loss and the cost of their behavior was soon visited upon the common\npeople. Before long, the coronavirus was reaching around the globe and the\ncountry found itself becoming rapidly isolated from the world. It was as though\nthe China of the Open Door and Reform policies for more than three decades was\nbeing destroyed in front of our eyes. It seemed as is, in one fell swoop, the\nPeople\u2019s Republic, and in particular its vaunted system of governance, had been\ncast back to pre-modern times. Then again, as word spread about the blockades\nthrown up by towns and cities to protect themselves against contagion, and as\ndoors were slammed shut everywhere, it felt as though we were actually being\nconfronted by a kind of barbaric panic more readily associated with the Middle\nAges. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The cause of all of this lies with The\nAxlerod [that is, Muddle Kingpin] and the cabal that surrounds him. It began\nwith the imposition of stern bans on the reporting of factual information that\nserved to embolden deception at every level of government, although it only\nstruck its true stride when bureaucrats throughout the system shrugged off\nresponsibility for the unfolding situation while continuing to seek the\napprobation of their superiors. They all blithely stood by as the crucial\nwindow of opportunity to deal with the outbreak of the infection snapped shut\nin their faces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ours is a system in which The Ultimate\nArbiter [an imperial-era term used by state media to describe Muddle Kingpin]\nmonopolizes power. It results in what I call \u201corganizational discombobulation\u201d\nthat, in turn, has served to enable a dangerous \u201csystemic impotence\u201d at every\nlevel. A political culture has thereby been nurtured that, in terms of the real\npublic good, is ethically bankrupt, for it is one that strains to vouchsafe its\nprivatized Party-State, or what they call their \u201cMountains and Rivers\u201d while\nabandoning the people over which it holds sway to suffer the vicissitudes of a\ncruel fate. It is a system that turns every natural disaster into an even greater\nman-made catastrophe. The coronavirus epidemic has revealed the rotten core of\nChinese governance; the fragile and vacuous heart of the jittering edifice of\nstate has thereby shown up as never before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This viral outbreak, which has been\nexacerbated into a national calamity by the power-holders, is more perilous\nperhaps than total war itself, for everything is being caught up by the\nstruggle\u2014the nation\u2019s ethical fabric, its politics, our society, as well as the\neconomy. Let me say that again\u2014it is even more perilous than total war, for it\nlays the nation open to a kind of devastation that even foreign invaders in the\npast had failed to visit upon us. The ancients put it well, \u201cOnly thieves\nnurtured at home can truly despoil a homeland.\u201d Although the Americans may well\nbe trying to undermine our economy, here at home The Axlerod is himself beating\nthem to it! Please note: just as the epidemic was reaching a critical moment,\nHe made a big deal about being \u201cPersonally This\u201d and \u201cPersonally That\u201c [when\nmeeting Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO on 29 January, Muddle\nmade a point of saying that he was \u201cpersonally\ncommanding<\/a>\u201d the\nresponse to the outbreak, a statement that was widely derided online]. Empty\nwords that only serve to highlight the hypocrisy. Such claims served merely to\nelicit nationwide outrage and sow desolation in the hearts of the\npeople. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It is true: the level of popular fury is\nvolcanic and a people thus enraged may, in the end, also cast aside their fear.\nHerein I offer my understanding of these developments in the broader context of\nthe global system. Being mindful also of the cyclical nature of the political\nzeitgeist, and with a steady eye on what has been happening here in China since\n2018 [when Muddle Kingpin was granted limitless tenure and Xu published his\nfamous broadside aimed at the Party-State], I have formulated my thoughts under\nnine headings. Compatriots: they are respectfully offered here for your\nconsideration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Politics in a New Era of Moral\nDepletion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n First and foremost, the political life\nof the nation is in a state of collapse and the ethical core of the system has\nbeen rendered hollow. The ultimate concern of China\u2019s polity today and that of\nits highest leader is to preserve at all costs the privileged position of the\nCommunist Party and to maintain ruthlessly its hold on power. \u201cThe Broad Masses\nof People\u201d are nothing more than a taxable unit, a value-bearing cipher in a\nmetrics-based system of social management geared towards stability maintenance.\n\u201cThe People\u201d is a rubric that describes the price everyone has to pay to prop\nup the eMuddlesting system. We are funding the countless locusts\u2014large and\nsmall\u2014whose continued eMuddlestence depends on a totalitarian system. The\nstoried bureaucratic apparatus that is responsible for the unfettered outbreak\nof the coronavirus in Wuhan repeatedly hid or misrepresented the facts about\nthe dire nature of the crisis. The dilatory actions of bureaucrats at every\nlevel exacerbated the urgency of the situation. Their behavior reflects a\ncomplete lack of interest in the welfare and lives of normal people. All that\nmatters is constant support for the self-indulgent celebratory behavior of the\n\u201cCore Leader\u201d whose favor is sought through adulation of the peerless\nachievements of the system. Within this self-regarding bureaucracy there is\neven less interest in the role that this country and its people play in a\nglobally interconnected community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The bureaucrats allowed the situation to\ndeteriorate to a shameless extent, but even then their shame knew no bounds,\nfor their actions served only to harm average people. The Core was steadfast as\ninefficiencies and chaos proliferated. What they have focused on in particular,\nhowever, is the tireless policing of the Internet. They have unleashed the dogs\nand are paying their minions overtime to blockade the news. Information has\nbeen getting out regardless, proof that even while the government resorts to\nthe tactics of a police state, and the National Security Commission accrues\never greater powers to itself, it can never truly achieve its vaunted aims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ancients observed that \u201cit\u2019s easier\nto dam a river than it is to silence the voice of the people.\u201d Regardless of\nhow good they are at controlling the Internet, they can\u2019t keep all 1.4 billion\nmouths in China shut. Yet again, our ancestors will be proved right.\nNonetheless, since all their calculations are solely concerned with maintaining\ntheir control; they have convinced themselves that crude exercises of power\nwill suffice. They have been fooled by the self-deception of \u201cThe Leader,\u201d a\nconfidence which deceives no one. Faced with this virus, the Leader has flailed\nabout seeking answers with ever greater urgency, exhausting those who are\nworking on the front line, spreading the threat to people throughout the land.\nYet still the vacuous slogans are being chanted\u2014Do this! Do that!\u2014overweening\nand with prideful purpose, He garners nothing but derision and widespread\nmockery in the process. This is a stark demonstration of the political\ndepletion of which I am talking here. The last seven decades [of the People\u2019s\nRepublic] have taught the people many lessons about the hazards of totalitarian\ngovernment. This time around, it is the virus that is proving the point once\nmore and in the most undeniable fashion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One can only hope that our fellow\nChinese, both young and old, will finally take the lesson to heart and abandon\ntheir long-practiced slavish acquiescence. It is high time that people relied\non their own rational judgment and avoided sacrificing themselves on the altar\nof the power holders. Otherwise, you will all be no better than fields of\ngarlic chives, giving yourselves up to being harvested by the blade of power,\ntime and time again. [The term \u201cgarlic chives,\u201d Allium tuberosum<\/em>, is\noften used as a metaphor to describe an endlessly renewable resource.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Tyranny in a New Era of Political\nLicense<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Secondly, tyranny ultimately corrupts\ngovernance as a whole and undermines the technocratic system that has taken\ndecades to build. There has been a system-wide collapse of professional ethics\nand commitment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was a time, not too long ago, when\nmoral imperatives found fellowship with systemic self-interest in a manner that\nled to a vast corps of competent technocrats taking the stage. Over time, they\nformed a highly capable coterie of specialists and administrators even though,\nas anyone would readily admit, it produced managerial arrangements that were\nfar from ideal. After all, the new technocracy was one riven by its limitations\nand beset by serious problems of every kind. Nonetheless, one of the reasons\nthat China\u2019s technocratic class evolved and managed to work at all was that by\ncombining administrative competence with a system that allowed for personal\nadvancement on the basis of an individual\u2019s practical achievements in\ngovernment, countless young men and women from impoverished backgrounds were lured\ninto pursuing educational self-improvement. They did so with the aim of\ndevoting themselves to both meaningful and rewarding state service. Of course,\nat the same time, the progeny of the Communist Party\u2019s own nomenklatura<\/em>\u2014the\nso-called \u201cRed Second Generation\u201d of bureaucrats\u2014proved themselves to be all\nbut useless as administrators; they occupied official positions and enjoyed the\nperks of power without making any meaningful contribution. In fact, more often\nthan not, they simply got in the way of people who actually wanted to get\nthings done. But enough of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unfortunately, as a result of the\nendless political purges of recent years [carried out in the name of an\n\u201canti-corruption campaign\u201d] and along with the revival of \u201cRed Culture,\u201d the\npeople in the system who have now been promoted are in-house Party hacks who\nslavishly obey orders. As a result, both the professional commitment and the\nexpertise previously valued within China\u2019s technocracy, along with the ambition\npeople previously had to seek promotion on the basis of their actual\nachievements, have been gradually undermined and, without any great hue and\ncry, they have now all but disappeared. The One Who Must Be Obeyed who talks\nabout the importance of transmitting \u201cred genes\u201d through the reliable Party\nbody politic, the man with the ultimate decision-making power and sign-off\nauthority, has created an environment in which the system as a whole has fallen\ninto desuetude. What remains is a widespread sense of hopelessness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The bureaucratic and governance system\nof China we see now is one that values the mediocre, the dilatory and the\ntimid. The mess they have made in Hubei Province, and the grotesque posturing\nof the incompetents involved has highlighted a universal problem. A similar\nmalaise has infected every province and the rot goes right up to Beijing. In\nwhat should be a \u201cpost-leader era,\u201d China has a \u201cCore Leader system\u201d and it is\nundermining the very mechanisms of state. Despite all the talk one hears about\n\u201cmodern governance,\u201d the reality is that the administrative apparatus is\nincreasingly mired in what can only be termed inoperability. It is an\naffliction whose symptoms I encapsulate in the expressions \u201corganizational\ndiscombobulation\u201d and \u201csystemic impotence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t you see that although everyone\nlooks to The One for the nod of approval, The One himself is clueless and has\nno substantive understanding of rulership and governance, despite his\nundeniable talent for playing power politics. The price for his overarching\negotism is now being paid by the whole nation. Meanwhile, the bureaucracy is\ndirectionless, although the best among them get by as best they can. They would\nlike to take positive action, but they are hesitant and fearful. For their\npart, meanwhile, bureaucratic schemers take advantage of the muddle and,\nalthough they have no desire to be proactive, they are good at making trouble.\nThe situation works to their advantage; they shove the competent bureaucrats\naside and create in their place an environment of overall chaos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. A New Era of Attenuated Governance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Furthermore, the day-to-day governance\nof China is in a state of terminal decay. This manifests itself in two ways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the first place, the economic\nslowdown is now an undeniable reality, and all indications are that things will\nonly get worse over the current year. This presenting the nation with a\nsituation unrivaled since the economic downturn that followed in the wake of\nthe 1989 \u201cdisturbances\u201d [that is, the 4 June Beijing Massacre]. This can only\nserve to exacerbate further the already problematic situation resulting from\nthe aforementioned \u201corganizational discombobulation\u201d and \u201csystemic impotence.\u201d\nEqually undeniable is the state of things more broadly including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n A collapse in consumer confidence;<\/p>\n\n\n\n Widespread panic about the longterm\nsecurity of private property;<\/p>\n\n\n\n Administrative and academic frustration\nand pent-up anger;<\/p>\n\n\n\n A general shutting down of society as a\nwhole; and,<\/p>\n\n\n\n A depressed cultural and publishing\nindustry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What is thriving, however, is all that\nridiculous \u201cRed Culture\u201d and the nauseating adulation that the system heaps on\nitself via shameless pro-Party hacks who chirrup hosannahs at every turn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of particular and profound concern are\nthe massive miscalculations that have been made: first, regarding the uprising\nin Hong Kong; and, then, in forecasts about the elections in Taiwan. In the\npressing political reality [of the situation in Hong Kong] there has been a\ncontinued blatant refusal to abide by the undertaking stipulated in the Hong\nKong Basic Law regarding general elections [for the Chief Executive of the\nterritory]. Repeated missteps in the Special Administrative Zone have been\nfollowed by clumsy and haphazard moves that have led to the complete collapse\nof public confidence in political leadership. The upshot is a fundamental\ndisaffection towards Beijing among the masses of a place that is, in reality,\nthe most prosperous and civilized part of Chinese territory. The whole world\nhas witnessed the ugly reality of the polity that lurks behind this situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, on the other side of the\nPacific Ocean, as the Sino-American relationship continues moving into\nuncharted territory, the fact that for the Superpower politics are not merely\nabout grand claims that no one has a right to comment on the internal affairs\nof such nations, all of these happenings [in Hong Kong and Taiwan, which\nBeijing emphasizes are solely a matter of China\u2019s \u201cinternal affairs\u201d] have a\ndirect impact on the unfolding fate of our own nation. And, at this very\njuncture, The Axelrod, befuddled as usual, is for his pains also having to deal\nwith an America led by a man who repeatedly \u201ctrumps\u201d him by virtue of his own\nunpredictability [here the author alters the Chinese transliteration of Trump\u2019s\nname to read \u201cextremely befuddling,\u201d that is someone who \u201cstumps\u201d everyone].\nWhat you end up with is one big mess. There is a proliferation of online\ncomments that claim He is aiding and abetting the Yankees pursue their\n\u201cImperialist Steadfast Desire to See Us Destroyed.\u201d In other words, [canny\ncommentators are suggesting that] He is helping the U.S. achieve the very\nthings it could never have dreamed of accomplishing itself. This is not just a way\nto ridicule him, it is a profoundly painful reality for all of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Secondly, the power holders have in\nrecent years accelerated their attempts to stifle all signs that China might be\ndeveloping a civil society. Censorship increases by the day, the impact of\nwhich is to weaken and obliterate those very things that can and should play a\npositive role in alerting society to critical issues. In response to the\ncoronavirus, for instance, at first the authorities shut down public disquiet\nand outspoken commentary via censorship; they then simply shut down entire\ncities. First people\u2019s hearts die and then Death stalks the living. It takes no\nparticular leap of the imagination to appreciate that along with all of these\nacts of crude expediency soulless pragmatism can make even greater political\ninroads. Given the fact that the country is, in effect, run by people nurtured\non the \u201cPolitics of the Sent Down Youth\u201d [that is, of the Cultural Revolution\nera\u2014today\u2019s leaders came of age during the late 1960s and early 1970s, a period\nof unparalleled political cynicism] this is hardly remarkable. After all, we\nare living in a time when what once passed for a measure of public decency and\nsocial concern has long quit the stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One could go so far as to say that from\nthe highest echelon to the very bottom of the system, this lot represent the\nworst political team to have run China since 1978. That is why I believe that\nit is imperative that the nation act on and truly put into practice Article\n35 of the Constitution<\/a>. That is to\nsay [we ourselves should advance Five Key Demands]:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Lift the ban on independent media and\npublishing;<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Put an end to the secret police\nsurveillance of the Internet and allow people their right to freedom of speech\nso they can express themselves with a clear conscience;<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Allow citizens to enjoy their right\nto demonstrate as well as the freedom of assembly and association;<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. Respect the basic universal rights of\nour citizens, in particular their right to vote in open elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [And, fifthly,] It should also be a\nmatter of pressing urgency that an independent body be established to\ninvestigate the origins of the coronavirus epidemic, to trace the cover-up and\nto determine the responsible parties and to analyze the systemic origins of the\ncrisis. Then and only then [after the coronavirus epidemic has passed] can we\ntruly engage in what should be a meaningful \u201cPost [Anti-Virus] War\nReconstruction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. A New Era of Resuscitated Court\nPolitics <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Added to this is the re-emergence of\ncourt politics or palace intrigue. The lurch towards the totalitarian along\nwith a concomitant ratcheting up of policies aimed at insinuating the Communist\nParty into every aspect of civil government has, as we have noted in the above,\nresulted in the near paralysis of normal bureaucratic operations. The system\nlacks any real sources of positive motivation and the concentration of\nauthority along with the concomitant impotence of actual power means that the\nTail [or underlings] can all too readily Wag the Dog\u2014ergo the eMuddlestence of\na Security Commission that imposes harsh punishments as part of the mechanisms\nused to keep the show on the road and the bureaucratic game ticking over. Due\nto the lack of freedom of speech and the absence of a modern bureaucratic\nsystem, let alone the absence of anything even approaching a \u201cHis Majesty\u2019s\nLoyal Opposition,\u201d the whip itself knows no restraint and the National Security\nCommission [established by Muddle] rules through an iron fist with each layer\nof bureaucracy answering upwards until it reaches the pinnacle, The Sole\nResponsible Person. And that individual is but a man of flesh and blood who\ncannot possibly \u201cbe across\u201d all aspects of governance. A Party-State system\nthat has no checks or balances, nor indeed a rational allocation of duties and\nresponsibilities, inevitably results in the rule of a clique of trusted\nlieutenants. Hence you have the equivalent of a court and the politics\npertaining to one. Put in the most obvious way, the \u201ccollective leadership\u201d\nwith its \u201cNine Dragons Ruling the Waters\u201d [prior to Muddle Kingpin\u2019s rule,\nthere were nine members of the ruling Politburo Standing Committee. Muddle\u2019s\nleadership saw this number reduced to seven] and its concomitant claque of\nrulers is no longer operable. And with its relative decline in efficacy, the\nOne Leader\u2019s inner circle becomes a \u201cstate within a state,\u201d something that the\nYankees have taken to calling the \u201cdeep state.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following the founding of the People\u2019s\nRepublic in 1949, a bureaucracy was established to carry out basic\nadministrative tasks. Even Mao was able to tolerate someone like Premier Zhou\nEnlai running his part of the government. With the appearance of the\nRevolutionary Committees and Security Organs [which replaced the police and the\njudicial system as a whole during the Cultural Revolution from 1966 until the\n1970s] that eMuddlesting system was overthrown, but in the four decades [after\nCultural Revolution policies were formally rejected from 1978], for the most\npart a modicum of balance eMuddlested between the roles of Party leader and\nstate leader [that is, between the General Secretary of the Communist Party and\nthe Premier who was head of the State Council, and the formal structures of\ngovernment]. Even though the Party and State were still melded, the state\nbureaucracy had the task of implementing Party directives. It is only in the\nlast few years that a new kind of hermetically sealed governance has come to\nthe fore and, due to the nature of hidden court politics, it is one that has\nenabled a sole power-holder while giving license to the darkest kinds of\nplotting and scheming. It is a rulership structure that stifles change and\nforecloses the kinds of changes that could support regularized forms of\ngovernance. With the way ahead reduced to something akin to a \u201cpolitical\nlocked-in syndrome,\u201d and since a meaningful retreat is all but impossible, the\nsystem is under constant strain. It is virtually impossible for anyone to act\nin any meaningful fashion. Instead, all are forced to look on in impotent\nfrustration as the situation deteriorates. This may well go on until things are\nsimply beyond salvaging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Faced with such a situation, the social\neconomy ends up in tatters, and the basic ethical web of society as a whole is\nrent by the prevailing winds of political fashion, so much so that people\u2019s\nalready fragile sense of citizenship ends up being further depleted. In the absence\nof anything that can meaningfully be called civil society, there is no hope\nthat any kind of mature politics can evolve. The brittleness of the situation\nis such that, whenever there is the slightest disturbance\u2014let alone a major\ndisaster\u2014everyone is endangered, and they are certainly powerless to help each\nother. That is why what may start out as a molehill can all too readily become\na mountain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The present chaos in Wuhan has thrown\nHubei into confusion, but as we have noted before, the root cause of the\nexpanding problem is in Beijing: The One who devotes himself energetically to\n\u201cProtecting the Mountains and Rivers and Maintaining Rulership Over the\nMountains and Rivers\u201d [of China. \u201cRivers and Mountains\u201d is a poetic\nexpression for China as a unified entity under authoritarian control<\/a>]. His self-interest is not grounded in the sovereignty of the people,\nnor in a system of governance that is about \u201cbuilding a nation on the basis of\ncivilization, or freedom.\u201d The end result of His style of rulership is, as\ncommentators on the Internet have widely remarked of late, that although \u201cMajor\nTasks Can Be Accomplished by Concentrating Power\u201d in times of crisis the\nreality is that \u201cMajor Mishaps Are Also Generated by Overly Concentrated\nPower.\u201d The coronavirus epidemic is a clear demonstration of this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. A New Era of Big Data Totalitarianism\nand WeChat Terror<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n They now turn to rule over the people by\nmeans of what could be dubbed \u201cbig data totalitarianism\u201d and \u201cWeChat terror.\u201d\nAlthough the fundamental nature of the Communist Party has remained unchanged\nover the past decades, it has articulated its ideology in a constantly mutable\nfashion. Throughout it all, however, their underpinning form of nationalism has\nbeen cast in terms of \u201cthe revitalization of the great Chinese nation,\u201d while\nthe general aspiration for wealth and power has been formulated under the slogan\nof \u201c[achieving] the Four Modernizations\u201d [of agriculture, industry, defense and\nscience and technology]. And so the twists and turns have followed one upon\nanother, including the Three Represents [of the Jiang Zemin era that stated\nthat the Party \u201crepresents the means for advancing China\u2019s productive forces;\nrepresents China\u2019s culture; and, represents the fundamental interests of the\nmajority of the Chinese people] and the The New Three People\u2019s Principles\n<\/p>\n\n\n [reformulated from the Republican era, 1912-1949]<\/p>\n\n\n\n right up to the \u201cNew Era\u201d\nannounced under Muddle Kingpin.\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Three Represents and the ideas [and\npolicy changes of the time] represented a relative apogee of possibility; since\nthen there has been an evident downward curve which, in recent years, has indicated\nthat the Communists are ever more obsessed with control over their Rivers and\nMountains, in particular by means of big data totalitarianism. Of course, the\nrelative move away from the totalitarian controls of the Maoist era [in the\n1980s and 1990s] seemed to presage a possibility that the system as a whole\nmight yet be able to transition into something else. However, following the\nBeijing Olympics in 2008, that trend all but petered out as Mao-style means of\ncontrol were re-instituted. This has been even more evident over the past six\nyears [under Muddle Kingpin].<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the technologies being deployed to\ncreate China\u2019s big data totalitarianism have been developed with the largesse\npossible because of unlimited government budgets, we are now experiencing a 1984<\/em>-style\nof total surveillance and control. In practice this allows for what could be\ncalled \u201cWeChat terrorism,\u201d something directly targets China\u2019s vast online\npopulation. The masses are, through their taxes, in fact funding a vast\nInternet police force that is empowered by the party-state to oversee,\nsupervise and track every statement and action made by everyone in the country.\nThis new canker on the body politic is a direct product of the system itself.\nPeople now live in constant anMuddleety, for they know that the imposition of\nthis kind of Internet terrorism is not limited merely to the suspension or\nshutting down of personal WeChat accounts, or the larger enterprise of banning\nwhole chat groups [which are a vital way for individuals to debate issues of\ninterest]. Everyone is mindful that the online terror can all too readily\nescape the virtual realm and become overtly physical; that is the cases when\nthe authorities use what they have learned online send the police to deal with\nonline users in real-time. The resulting widespread social disquiet fosters an\natmosphere of constant self-censorship and people are beset by nagging worries\nabout what inexplicable punishment may befall them at any given moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is how all potential for public\ndiscussion is being stifled. By the same token, the very channels of\ncommunication that should in normal circumstances eMuddlest for the\ndissemination of public information are strangled, and a meaningful, civic\nearly-warning system that could play a crucial role at times of local or\nnational emergency is thereby outlawed. What we have in its place is an\nevolving military tyranny that is underpinned by an ideology cobbled together\nfrom strains of traditional harsh Chinese Legalist thought wedded to an admix\nof the Leninist-Stalinist interpretation of MarMuddlesm along with the\n\u201cGermano-Aryan\u201d form of fascism [the author encapsulates this unique\nformulation in the shorthand: Fa-Ri-Si<\/em> \u6cd5\u65e5\u65af, or \u201cLegalistic-Fascist-Stalinism\u201d]. There is increasing evidence that for all of its weighty presence,\nthis is in fact a self-deconstructing structure that undermines normal\ngovernance in favor of systemic atrophy. And this is why we see, when it is\nconfronted with a major public health emergency such as now, the so-called \u201cAll\nPowerful Totalizing System\u201d under the Chairman of Everything leads to\nreal-world effects that expose the profound inadequacies of the system as a\nwhole which, among other things, has left the country without even enough face\nmasks to go around. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As I write, in the city of Wuhan, and\nwithin the province of Hubei, there are still countless numbers of people who\nhave not been able to receive adequate medical attention and who have been\nabandoned to wailing in desperate isolation. How can we possibly know how many\npeople have been condemned to an early death as a result? This then is the\nreality of the so-called \u201call-powerful state,\u201d the \u201cgood-for-nothing\u201d nature of\nwhich is now on display for all to see. It is a system that has systematically\noutlawed society and the civil realm [a translation of the capacious term minjian<\/em>;\nsee Sebastian Veg, Minjian: Rise of\nChina\u2019s Grassroots Intellectuals<\/a><\/em>], cut off all other sources of\ninformation apart from its own and given licenses only to its own propaganda\napparatus. A nation such as this may well attempt to strut, but it is little\nmore than a crippled giant, that is if it can even be called a giant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6. A New Era That Has Shut Down Reform<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The last cards in the deck have all been\nplayed and the possibilities for further meaningful reforms have been locked\nout. Or, to put it more directly, the Open Door and Reform policies are dead in\na ditch. From when [Muddle Kingpin declared], in late 2018 that \u201cwe must\nresolutely reform what should and can be changed, we must resolutely not reform\nwhat shouldn\u2019t and can\u2019t be changed\u201d right up to the publication of the\nCommuniqu\u00e9 of the Fourth Plenary Session [of the Nineteenth Party Congress]\nlast autumn, we can say with certainty that the Third Great Wave of reform and\nopening in modern Chinese history [the first dates from the self-strengthening\nmovement of the 1860s] has petered out. The shutting down of reform is a\nprocess that, in reality, began six years earlier [following the rise of Muddle\nKingpin in late 2012].<\/p>\n\n\n\n Observing the trends in global history\nthroughout the 20th century it is fairly evident that right-wing governments\nhave proven, when forced by pressure or circumstance, that they may well be\nable to evolve and overcome their systemic dilemmas without having to resort to\nmass blood-letting. Even in the case of the \u201cEastward Wave of Soviet Change\u201d [Su\nDong Bo<\/em>, literally \u201cthe (politically transformative) wave that broke over\nthe Eastern Bloc controlled by the Soviet Union.\u201d This clever shorthand is\nbased on Su Dongpo, the name of a famous Song-dynasty poet]\u2014in particular in\nthe case of the socialist governments of the Eastern Bloc under Soviet\ncontrol\u2014even they managed a peaceful transition, something that, at the time,\nwas both surprising and a relief. However, in China today, the authorities have\nblocked off any possible passage to imaginable change and we must seriously\ndoubt whether any form of peaceful transition might even be conceivable. If\nthat truly is the case, one cannot help but think of the old poetic line [from\nthe Yuan dynasty] that, \u201cThe people suffer whether the state prospers or\nfails.\u201d One can only hope that in the wake of the coronavirus, the people of China\nwill rethink their situation and that this ancient land will awaken to its\npredicament. Might it, perhaps, be possible to initiate a Fourth Wave of\nReform?!<\/p>\n\n\n\n 7. A New Era of Isolation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Given the logical progression of things\ndiscussed in the foregoing, China looks like it will, once more, be isolated\nfrom the global system. The modern global system is one that took shape in the\nMediterranean [with the rise of the European trading powers] and reached an\napogee on either side of the Atlantic Ocean [with the imperial dominance of the\nUnited Kingdom and the United States]. Over the centuries, China has engaged in\nany number of tugs of war with that system, variously rejecting or embracing\nit. Back and forth it has gone as the nation has lurched forward and careened\nback over the years. For over three decades, a hard-won and painful realization\nled to this country \u201cbowing in humble acknowledgement\u201d [as the author titled an\nessay in late 2018<\/a>] as well as\n\u201cactively pursuing change,\u201d right up to giving birth to its own new form of\nengagement that would, over time, become itself something of a new mainstream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is a sad reality, however, that in\nrecent years China has increasingly acted imprudently and against its own\ninterests. Furthermore, it has demonstrated that the \u201cOpen Door\u201d has opened\njust as far as it is going to and that the totalitarian impulses of the Extreme\nLeftists have led them to take a stand; they will not tolerate any further\nadvances that may possibly lead to a peaceful transition and enable China\nfinally to evolve. That\u2019s why this place has actually set itself at loggerheads\nwith the modern global system. Despite this, and after all the back and forth,\nChina by virtue of its sheer scale and a generally more open mindset was\ngradually finding its place in the modern world system and even becoming an\nimportant player in it. Its mere presence also required people to engage with\nnew interpretations of staid geopolitical narratives related to the meaning of\n\u201cthe center\u201d and \u201cthe periphery.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the country\u2019s increasingly\naggressive international posture in recent years was out of kilter with both\nrealistic assessments of actual national strength as well as overall trends in\nglobal affairs as a whole. Added to all of that was the changing internal\ndynamic of China that has seen a steady drumbeat that has served to egg on an\nenhanced regime of what I have termed \u201cLegalistic-Fascist-Stalinism.\u201d In\ncombination all of this has evoked alarm and trepidation among other players in\nthe new great game of global politics; they are now alert to the potential rise\nof a Chinese \u201cRed Empire\u201d [for more on this, see Xu, \u201cChina\u2019s\nRed Empire\u2014To Be or Not To Be<\/a>\u201d]. Just as China has trumpeted the concept of a global Community of\nShared Destiny, the international community is itself rejecting it. How tragic\nis that! Instead of embracing a real community, China is increasingly isolating\nitself from it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n No matter how complex, nuanced and\nsophisticated one\u2019s analysis, the reality is stark. A polity that is blatantly\nincapable of treating its own people properly can hardly be expected to treat\nthe rest of the world well. How can a nation that doggedly refuses to become a\nmodern political civilization really expect to be part of a meaningful\ncommunity? That\u2019s why although mutually beneficial economic exchanges will\ncontinue unabated, its civilizational isolation will remain an unavoidable\nChinese reality. This has nothing to do with a culture war, even less can it be\nencapsulated in\u2014and dismissed by\u2014glib terms of a \u201cclash of civilizations.\u201d Nor\nis it simply a matter of some new wave of anti-Chinese sentiment, or Sinophobia\nor China put down, despite the fact that right now, for the moment, dozens of\ncountries have imposed travel restrictions on people from the People\u2019s\nRepublic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I would remind readers that fears of a\nYellow Peril, that long occluded and sclerotic ideological construct, must\ninvariably re-emerge as the present China scare advances. Internationally, the\ndue appreciation for universal values and human rights was hard won and it only\nachieved widespread acceptance following a tortuous period of contestation.\nThey have long been a standard element in the treaties and agreements that\nunderpin the international community. China\u2019s own international engagement and\nits worthiness of enjoying a substantive place in the international community\ndepends too on how these philosophical issues are understood and treated [that\nis, if China can evolve to accept internationally recognized universal values].\nWho over time will prosper and who will move against the tides of history\u2014that\nis, who will end up being isolated\u2014these are questions that can only be\nanswered as some places are isolated by others or decide to self-isolate and\nend up alone. Such places will only be able to find their assumed pulchritude\nreflected back at them in the mirror of their imperial self-regard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The way to turn things around, to\nre-establish the image of China as a responsible major power that can shoulder\nits global responsibilities, demands that the internal affairs of this country\nmust be sorted out; that can only happen if we as a people join together on the\nGreat Way of Universal Human Values. What is of particular importance is that\nthis nation needs to ground itself substantively in the concept that\nSovereignty Resides in the People. But it still all comes down to how this\ncountry manages its own affairs. I believe that the only way for China to end\nits global and historical isolation and become a meaningful participant in the\nglobal system, as well as flourish on the path of national survival and\nprosperity, is to pursue a politics that embraces constitutional democracy and\nfosters a true people\u2019s republic. When that time comes, and in accord with the\nflow of events, it is not unimaginable that China might even be worthy of\njoining the G7, which would in turn become the Group of Eight or G8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 8. A New Era in Which to Seek Freedom\nfrom Fear<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The People are no longer fearful. These\nare the common people\u2014men and women who strain to make a living, a populace\nthat has put up with so much trepidation, a vast population that has only with\nthe most extraordinary difficulty freed itself from all of those myths about\nPower\u2014they are a people who will not forever be willing to hand over\nsubmissively to a tyrannical system the minuscule freedoms they enjoy, and their\nright to work for a better life. Indeed, why should they submit to a system\nthat in its arrogance arrogates unto itself the sole right to proportion life\nand death, and survival itself?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, as a result of this Great Virus,\nthe People are enraged and they\u2019ve had enough. They have witnessed how the\nfacts were hidden and how the health and safety of the common people was\nignored by an unfeeling bureaucracy. Even before now, they have repeatedly paid\na heavy price, that levy demanded to support the grandiose displays of\ncelebration and self-congratulation that the party-state uses to advertise\nprosperity and peace. All the while they are treated as straw dogs [that is,\nsacrificial victims to be dispensed with at will]. They witness the\never-increasing death toll, yet they are being shut down on WeChat and forced\ninto silence while the power-holders extol their own heroism and shamelessly\nheap plaudits on themselves. Mass sentiment can be summed up in the line [made\nfamous in Bei Dao\u2019s 1976 poem]: I\u2014DO\u2014NOT\u2014BELIEVE! And they won\u2019t put up with it\nany more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well may they say that the human heart\nis ineffable and inexplicable; it is something that above all else has no\npractical use. It seems that experience has repeatedly proven this to be a\nfact; it cannot simply be deemed wholly unreasonable. After all, what about Big\nCock Li [Li Peng, whose personal name, Peng, is also a term for a mythical huge\nbird], the man [who was directly responsible for the Beijing Massacre of 1989\nand the nationwide repression that followed in its wake]? Millions bayed for\nhis blood, but he peacefully lived out his allotted time [dying in July 2019 at\nthe age of ninety-one] even as the masses wanted to spit on him in disgusted\noutrage. How can one not lament the fact that Heaven does not deliver justice?\nAlthough, if truth be told, Heaven too suffers along with all of us. If we are\nto believe that what makes us what we are is the heart\u2014our sense of human\ndecency\u2014rather than the bestial organs of wolves and dogs, then it is the heart\ntoo that responds most meaningfully to the vicissitudes of life\u2014be they joys or\nsorrows, disaster or good fortune, fairness as well as to profit, loves and\nhates. It is but human to be conflicted by wants and needs, to be prone to the\nagonies of separation and hopes for happiness. It is in that heart that a way\nforward may be forged, through thickets of pain as well as despite the rotten\nrealities of our world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When humanity itself is tested to the\nvery point of extinction, know that this may presage the true \u201cEnd of His\nDays.\u201d As for those addle-brained morons and all of those smarmy gadabouts who\nthink nothing bad can ever happen to them, they are but an undifferentiated\nmob: they make no positive contribution to history, nor indeed does the course\nof unfolding events change because of their eMuddlestence, or anything they do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 9. A New Era in Which the Clock Is\nTicking<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The deplorable reality is evident and\nthe countdown has started\u2014the time to establish a meaningful constitutional\norder is upon us. It should be recognized that the March 2018 revision of\nChina\u2019s Constitution [which allowed for Muddle Jiping to stay in power beyond\nthe limited term in office previously stipulated by law] opened the door to all\nmanner of evil. It has legislated that a totalitarian specter may once more\ncast a long shadow over us. However, at that very moment, things were taking an\nunexpected turn; just as that stampede into the past began, systemic decay\nbecame increasingly evident. Putting aside the issue of disgruntled popular sentiment,\nin the above we have already noted the bungled policies related both to Hong\nKong and to Taiwan, as well as the disorderly fashion in which the\nSino-American relationship has been unfolding. Added to all of that is an\noverall economic decline that eludes simple resolution as well as the real-time\ninternational isolation that China has been experiencing [due to its\nincreasingly aggressive foreign posture]. All of these things are symptomatic\nof policy failure, yet further proof that \u201cStrong Man Politics\u201d\u2014a phenomenon\nthat cuts against the very nature of modern political life\u2014produces results\nthat are at glaring variance with the avowed aim of their author [that is, Muddle\nKingpin].<\/p>\n\n\n\n Amid this suffocating situation, there\nis a widespread anMuddleety that we are caught in a stalemate. People are\nbedeviled and straining to think of ways to break through the logjam and\ninaugurate new possibilities. There has, of course, been a fervent hope among\nmany that certain internal dynamics may possibly result in a situation that can\nclear the way; perhaps something welling up from below that may positively\ninfluence those above. Just as such a pipe dream seemed to capture people\u2019s\nimaginations, developments in Hong Kong and Taiwan showed how the periphery can\nsuddenly throw the centre off kilter. Events in those places have been so\ndramatic in fact that they may even offer a ray of hope. For it is perhaps,\nonly perhaps, that with such a path forward\u2014one in which the periphery\ngradually influences the centre and makes imaginable some kind of peaceful\ntransition, that a particular Chinese Way out of our present political\nconundrum may be found. Perhaps too the \u201cbesieged city\u201d [of Wuhan], beset as it\nis by crisis, may also prove to be a Jerusalem\u2014a place of hope and peace; an\nold city proffering new hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To put it another way, a breakthrough\noriginating from the periphery may augur once more [as it did in the 1890s, the\n1910s, the 1940s and again in the 1980s] a moment that favors a push towards\nmeaningful constitutional and legal rule in China. We may well be at just such\na juncture; even as the faint light of a new dawn is promised on the horizon,\nwe nonetheless remain in the gloaming\u2014we are no longer lost in the pitch dark\nof night, yet still the roseate promise of a new day eludes us. Still that\nbastion of power holds itself together tightly, a crumbling edifice reluctant\nas ever to acquiesce to the popular will. But, look there, the draw bridge that\nleads a way out [that is, the promise offered by events in Hong Kong and\nTaiwan] has been lowered just so far. Is this not a time spoken of by\nprophets\u2014even though many will fail and fall before the dawn light ushers in a\nnew day?<\/p>\n\n\n\n ***<\/p>\n\n\n\n I present these Nine Points for the\nconsideration of my fellow countrymen and women. It is all too obvious and mere\ncommon sense. But let me reiterate my key point: when a nation has yet to enter\na normal state of rule; when its people and their civilization are yet to transition\ninto a truly modern era, we must continue forward with fortitude and hope; we\nmust strive to bring about constitutional democracy and realize a true People\u2019s\nRepublic. We have now been part of this long-breaking wave of modernity for\nover one and a half centuries [since the fledgling reform movement of the 1860s\nin the Qing dynasty]. It is herein that we play a role. That\u2019s right, we, We\nthe People, for [as I have previously said] how can we let ourselves \u201csurvive\nno better than swine; fawn upon the power-holders like curs; and live in vile\nfilth like maggots\u201d?!<\/p>\n\n\n\n As I write these words I reflect on my\nown situation which also dramatically changed in 2018 [when the author\npublished his famous\nanti-Muddle Jeremiad<\/a>]. For having\nraised my voice then, I was punished for \u201cspeech crimes.\u201d Thereafter, I was\nsuspended from my job as a university lecturer and cashiered as a professor,\nreduced to a minor academic rank. I was placed under investigation by my\nemployer, Tsinghua University; my freedoms have been curtailed ever since.\nWriting as I do herein, I can now all too easily predict that I will be\nsubjected to new punishments; indeed, this may well even be the last piece I\nwrite. But that is not for me to say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Confronted by this Great Virus, as all\nof us are right now, I feel as though a vast chasm has opened up before us all\nand I feel compelled to speak out yet again. There is no refuge from this viral\nreality and I cannot remain silent. To act in any other way would be to betray\nmy nature. In Western philosophy, they call it \u201crighteous indignation;\u201d it is a\nkind of fury that results from repeated abrasion. Our own thinkers speak of it\nas humanity combined with a sense of justice. It is [what Mencius] called \u201cthe\ntrue way of the human heart\u201d and, thus agitated, I\u2014a bookish scholar who dares\nto think of himself as an \u201cintellectual\u201d\u2014am prepared to pay for it with my\nlife. [Here the author quotes the Confucian text Mencius<\/em>: \u201cBenevolence\nis the heart of man, and rightness his road. Sad it is indeed when a man gives\nup the right road instead of following it and allows his heart to stray without\nenough sense to go after it.\u201d Translated by D.C. Lau, Mencius<\/em>, Book VI,\nPart A: 11.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the end, it is about Freedom\u2014that\nTranscendent Quality; well-spring and fulcrum of conscious action; that secular\nvalue proven to be the most divine aspiration of humankind; that innate\nsensibility that truly makes us human; that ineffable \u201csuchness\u201d that we\nChinese share with all others. The spirit of the world, that spirit incarnate\non earth, makes possible a glorious unfolding of Freedom itself. This is why,\nfriends\u2014my countless compatriots\u2014though a sea of flames confronts us, can we\nlet ourselves be held back by fear?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oh, Vast Land beneath our feet, it is\nYou that I now address:<\/p>\n\n\n\n You inspire the most profound feelings,\nyet you can be cruel in your dispensation. Despite the bounty of your promise\nall too often you assail us with ceaseless troubles. Bit by bit you gnaw away\nat our patience, inch by inch you chip away at our dignity. Are you deserving\nof all of our praise or are you worthy only of our curses? One thing there is\nthat I do know, and it is a hard-won truth: at the mere mention of you my eyes\nfill with tears and my heart gasps. And so it is that I say unto You, in the\nwords of the poet [Dylan Thomas]:<\/p>\n\n\n\n I will not go gentle into that good\nnight,<\/p>\n\n\n\n Old age should burn and rave at close of\nday;<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rage, rage against the dying of the\nlight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And that is why people like me\u2014feeble\nscholars though we are\u2014are useless, for we can do nothing more than lament,\ntake up our pens, avail ourselves of what we write to issue calls for decency\nand advance pleas on behalf of Justice. Faced with the crisis of the\ncoronavirus, confronting this disordered world, I join my compatriots\u2014the 1.4\nbillion men and women, brothers and sisters of China, the countless multitudes\nwho have no way of fleeing this land\u2014and I call on them: rage against this injustice;\nlet your lives burn with a flame of decency; break through the stultifying\ndarkness and welcome the dawn. Let us now strive together with our hearts\nand minds, also with our very lives. Let us embrace the warmth of a sun that\nproffers yet freedom for this vast land of ours!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Drafted on\nthe Fourth Day of the First Lunar Month<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of the Gengzi\nYear of the Rat [28 January 2020]<\/p>\n\n\n\n Revised on\nthe Ninth Day of the First Month [2 February]<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a snow\nstorm suddenly assailed Beijing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I will not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light. And that is why people like me\u2014feeble scholars though we are\u2014are useless, for we can do nothing more than lament, take up our pens, avail ourselves of what we write to issue calls for decency and advance pleas on behalf of Justice. Faced with the crisis of the coronavirus, confronting this disordered world, I join my compatriots\u2014the 1.4 billion men and women, brothers and sisters of China, the countless multitudes who have no Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,34],"tags":[54,53,56,57,55],"class_list":["post-262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-giraffe","category-human-rights-civil-disobedience-courage-honesty","tag-china","tag-corona-virus","tag-future","tag-human-rights","tag-uprising"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spblinux.de\/Staying-the-Course\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spblinux.de\/Staying-the-Course\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spblinux.de\/Staying-the-Course\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spblinux.de\/Staying-the-Course\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spblinux.de\/Staying-the-Course\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/spblinux.de\/Staying-the-Course\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":264,"href":"https:\/\/spblinux.de\/Staying-the-Course\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262\/revisions\/264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spblinux.de\/Staying-the-Course\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spblinux.de\/Staying-the-Course\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spblinux.de\/Staying-the-Course\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nSob in February, sob and sing<\/em>
\nWhile the wet snow rumbles in the street<\/em>
\nAnd burns with the black spring.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nTranslated by Sasha Dugdale<\/p>\n\n\n\n