Beast Press: I read Yang Guang's article " Why I Hate "Public Servants" many years ago at the "Chinese Human Rights Biennial" and thought it was very good, so I started to follow Yang Guang's article. I read an autobiography of him today and share it here.

My "June 4th" Experience and Reflection | Yang Guang

one

I was 24 years old that year and was teaching at Hubei Institute of Automotive Industry in Shiyan City, Hubei Province. Before the student movement broke out, I had just passed the postgraduate entrance examination at Beijing Normal University and had just received my marriage certificate. If there is no "June 4th", I will live another life. In early May, I went to Beijing to participate in the postgraduate re-examination, just in time for the student movement in Beijing, which turned from a parade to a hunger strike. My trip seemed to be specially for the student movement. The exam took only half a day, but I stayed in Tiananmen Square for more than ten days, and didn’t leave Beijing in a hurry until the date of martial law (May 19).

Immersive, heartbroken. The scale of the pro-democracy movement is beyond my imagination. I will never forget the scene where thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people chanted a slogan and sang a song together. Although the "Internationale", which I don't like the most is sung by people, the majestic momentum of "strengthening the mountains and inspiring the world" is still heart-warming and blood-boiled.

But I did not participate in the student movement. I just listen and see, don't say no, and be a contemplative bystander. At that time, I was very ignorant about "politics", and quite obtuse about "national affairs". In general, I'm a hopeless optimist and don't see how serious the situation has become. In my impression, Beijing is orderly, the market is open for business as usual, the agencies work as usual, and the people travel as usual. Although various protesters from all over the country gathered in the square, and although a huge parade marched on Chang'an Street every day, the law and order in Beijing was super good, and the traffic was unobstructed (there were few private cars in Beijing at that time). . All demonstrations and demonstrations are filled with one-sided cheers and applause. The college students who went on hunger strike in the square have become the darlings of the people of Beijing and the whole country, and have received widespread sympathy and praise. I also found that the relationship between the police and the people in Beijing is also rarely "harmonious". It is common to see the police on duty stand at attention and salute the parade, and the parade responds by saying, "The people's police love the people." In other occasions, I am afraid it is not easy to see such beauty.

According to what I thought at the time, the student movement had already made great achievements: it formed its own organization, made its own voice, gained the support of the people, and quickly changed the domestic public opinion atmosphere and political ecology. A street movement that can do this is enough, if not more than enough. Although the government has not yet made a substantive response, after all, the two sides have had some interactions - this is really rare in the history of the Communist Party, and both sides have tolerated it for more than a month. Moreover, the government's response and concession should not be the only goal of the democratic movement. The response of the people, the response of public opinion, and the response of the world are more worthy of cherishing.

I don't think a democratic movement can instantly change the country. After all, streets and squares are just places to ask questions, not suitable places to solve them. Political construction is something that comes after the student movement, and it has to be done in an orderly manner in another way. The most important thing is to protect the achievements that the movement has already achieved, so that the changed public opinion atmosphere and political ecology can be maintained as much as possible, and it will not be reversed. As long as the support of the people and public opinion remains, as long as the established organizational and dialogue forms remain, no matter how arrogant the government is, sooner or later, there will be compromises and concessions. Therefore, in my heart, I am a little rude to the student leaders: instead of being strong in the square, how to move the position? Instead of chasing and fighting fiercely, how to stop in moderation?

When I left Beijing, I started to feel a little nervous and uneasy: I didn't know how martial law would play out, much less how the movement would end.

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Back in Shiyan, only to find that the remote Checheng, which had been indifferent to Yaobang's death, had also become "vigorous". The 1989 student movement was similar in origin to the 1976 "April 5th Movement", but the theme and transmission mechanism of the movement were different. "Huai Zhou" in 1976 was the main line of the movement with national appeal, but "Mourning Hu" in 1989 was only the fuse. When the Beijing student movement switched from "Mourning Hu" to "anti-corruption," "democracy," Freedom of the Press” did the movement gain national recognition and widespread dissemination (I don’t mean to belittle Hu Yaobang’s political influence, but that’s roughly the historical fact).

The student movement in Shiyan was a complete miniature replica of Beijing. The form of organization and liaison, the method of collective action, the slogan, slogan, and goal appeal are all the same as those of the forerunners in Beijing, the birthplace of the student movement. From this, I found that a national democratic movement can have no leadership center or recognized leader, but people must have some basic consensus and universally resonating themes of the movement. In addition, there must be an exemplary model. Pilot group. Tiananmen Square in 1989 was the demonstration center of the nationwide democratic movement; but its demonstrations were not all positive and beneficial. There are only two universities in Shiyan (besides my automobile college, the other is Shiyan University), a medical college, and several technical secondary schools, all of which participated in individual or joint demonstrations. The School of Automobile has the largest number of students, and it is natural that it has become the main force of the local student movement and the intermediary coordinator of all participating parties. The organizer of the student movement was the newly established "Student Government Association" following the Beijing model. In addition, the Second Automobile Technology Center, where intellectuals are relatively concentrated, as well as several news units and scientific research units, are the most important supporters of college students.

At the Automobile Academy, several enthusiastic young teachers were advisors to the student council, and in fact the backbone of the council (later dubbed "black hands" by the authorities). Because the students' organizational form is very weak and in an extremely unstable state, there will always be fierce disputes among the students after each parade and assembly, and each dispute will lead to the re-election or partial re-election of the self-governing association. As a result, the term of office of the members, standing committee members and chairman of the self-government association is usually only three or five days, and more than one action is limited to leading. Every time there is a collective action, some people are always dissatisfied, thinking that the momentum is not big enough, the action is not strong enough, and it can be more exaggerated and sensational. As a general rule, the most radical critics are most likely to become new student leaders. According to my observation, if there are not a few more experienced teachers in charge, the student movement in Shiyan will move from parade to sit-in, and from sit-in to occupy the streets and squares. Radicalization and extremism are always the shortcuts for whimsical people.

During the period before the June 4 massacre, I was basically an opponent of the student movement. I have not participated in any demonstrations. At the protest rally of various news units in Shiyan City, I was forced to give a speech by students, but I inadvertently offended the organizers of the rally, and was accused of "hurting the patriotic enthusiasm of journalists" and asked me to apologize . At that time, the student council in our school set up a lot of loudspeakers to broadcast gossip from various sources every day. They wanted me to write some articles for them to broadcast, but I also refused.

Among the older teachers, the perception of the current situation is different from that of the younger ones. At a faculty symposium attended by the deputy secretary of the party committee of the college, an associate professor who had a good personal relationship with me suddenly cried while speaking. She is a person with valuable personality and good popularity, an old rightist who has lived in rural areas for more than ten years. She believes that "if the students continue to make trouble like this, our country will be in chaos, and the reform and opening up will be over." In her mind, it seemed that the student movement was equated with the Cultural Revolution. In order to defend the student movement, I talked nonstop for more than an hour at that meeting, which took up most of the meeting time, and probably reached the point of "spittle flying". I can’t remember exactly what I said, but the gist is: the students are impulsive, hoping that a street movement can immediately change the overall situation, eliminate corruption, and achieve democracy. It’s naive, but it’s not a crime. It makes no sense to cause chaos in the world. The actions of the students may have gone too far, but their demands are very cheap and not excessive, and the government does not need to push or reject them. The order in Beijing is not chaotic, and martial law is purely against the people, intensifying conflicts and superfluous actions. The only consequence of my speech this time is that the deputy secretary of the party committee who did not say a word on the spot remembered my name, and personally gave me a "hardcore" in the "investigation and clean-up campaign" after the "June 4th". rioters" hat.

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From April 15th to June 3rd, I was a bystander, even a critic, of the student movement. My own "June 4th" experience only started on the evening of June 3 and the early morning of June 4. I will never forget the days that followed. For me, it was the pinnacle experience of a lifetime. At one point, I had the thought of "death with generosity": "Motherland, if all this can be changed, I am willing to die immediately!" I think it is difficult to have the same moment and the same mood in my life.

A few days ago, there were rumors that martial law troops would force their way into the city and would "kill anyone". I have always scoffed at such rumors. During that time, strangers often came to my single-teacher building to have lively state debates with us. On the afternoon of June 3, a college colleague I had just met and I fought so hard about whether the People's Liberation Army would start massacres. I don’t think the Communist Party will shoot into the city: First, it’s unreasonable. Even if the students are wrong, they can’t kill them; Second, it’s unnecessary. The students who stick to the square are already at the end of the shot. Disintegration, encircling and not fighting is the best policy; third, there is no good end, this reason is taken from Mao's quotations, but I think this is a rare human word among the many nonsense words Lao Mao said in his life. The debate continued from the afternoon into the evening. This colleague and I have since become good friends who take care of each other.

Our debate is not over yet, the hard news of Beijing killings has arrived. The Voice of America and the BBC were blaring from the loudspeakers of the Student Government. For me, it was a bolt from the blue, enough to give me a nervous breakdown. After a sleepless night that night, I started "tandem". This is the first time I have walked into a student dormitory since the student movement. I said harsh words to the students in my class: "It didn't matter if you went to the street or not. Tomorrow you must all go to the street. The final exam for going to the street will add 10 points, and those who don't go to the street will fail." (I want to come here now. These words are really inappropriate. If the students are killed or injured, I am guilty.)

Early the next morning, our parade marched to the headquarters of the Second Automobile Group. As I walked out of the school gate, I saw the colleague with whom I had a heated argument yesterday waiting at the gate with his daughter. His sad expression with tears in his eyes is still deeply imprinted in my mind. The parade shouted slogans such as "Government of murder, get out of power", "Blood for blood", "hang so-and-so", "so-and-so must die" and other slogans. At the Youth Square in front of the Second Automobile Headquarters, other parades gathered here, and the total number was the largest in the previous protest rallies in Shiyan City. At this time, the slogans of the people were changed to "Erqi people, stand up" and "Erqi people, strike." The screams were deafening. However, the doors and windows of the Second Automobile Headquarters building were closed, and there was no response, and it was unknown whether anyone was inside.

After a stalemate for about half an hour, someone in the crowd suddenly shouted a new slogan: "Go to the assembly plant! Surround the assembly plant!" Later, the public security department never found out who had the idea to surround the assembly plant, or who called it out first. Thousands of people rushed to the assembly plant at the speed of a 100-meter race. By noon, the Second Automobile General Assembly Plant was surrounded by protesters, and the five exits were guarded by students from the Automobile College. Only people were allowed in and out, not cars. This was the biggest "unrest" event in Shiyan City during the 1989 Movement.

Four

The action to contain the assembly plant lasted for three days. For three days, the long-awaited strike could not be brought about, and the 80,000 employees of the Second Automobile Group obviously did not buy the students' account. During this period, a short-lived organization called the “Fuzhou Auto Workers’ Federation” was established by several apprentices who had received disciplinary action, and had no ability to organize strikes. However, because the assembled vehicle could not leave the factory and the parts could not be transported into the final assembly workshop, FAW had to be forced to suspend production on the afternoon of June 4.

This move really worked. The leaders of the Second Automobile, Shiyan City, and Military Division who had ignored the protests immediately rushed to the site of the assembly plant and took the initiative to ask for "dialogue" and "negotiation" with the students. But by then, the Student Government Council no longer existed. We got some terrible news. First, the organizer of the event will not only be fired, but also imprisoned, because the loss of FAW’s one-day suspension of production is as high as tens of millions. Second, the garrison outside the city has been ordered to enter the city (there is a garrison near Shiyan City. , said to be a missile force), and could shoot down at any time. Therefore, no one is willing to "dialogue" with the official as an organizer. I remember that on the night of the first day the factory was blocked, most of the student leaders had already "disappeared". That night, we had a "secret meeting" in the woods outside the factory to determine the next course of action. Only one member of the student council attended. The others were single teachers from the automotive academy.

My thinking at the time was: Since Beijing has already killed people, we will not block the factory too much; the more urgent the situation, the more action is needed; the so-called "solidarity with Beijing students" in the past was just a cheap cheer (and even played a role in making the students in the square get carried away. If there are similar actions in Shiyan all over the country, everyone will fight to the death, and when the nationwide resistance is linked together, perhaps Beijing may still have the possibility of turning over the table.

At the time, we didn't know much about the situation in Beijing. I am certain that the students in Tiananmen Square will not retreat easily, let alone stop resisting. And as long as there is still organized perseverance and resistance in Beijing, our actions must be meaningful. Because the slaughterers actually care more about the effect of the slaughter than everyone else. Not only do we fear them, but they also fear us. The thing they worry most about is that the slaughter has the opposite effect. Instead of frightening the people, it angers the people and triggers More, greater resistance. So, we just want to show them by action that their brutal violence has not and cannot have the intimidating effect they expected. That night, I put forward a motion. For the safety of the students, all the students who blocked the factory could be dismissed, and only a few key members of us would go to the track collectively. Fortunately, no one responded, otherwise I probably wouldn't be alive today.

Late that night, I decided to "talk" to the official in my own name. I went with another young teacher. I told them that the actions of the students were not aimed at FAW. We only have one request. We hope that the leaders of FAW and the city will report to their superiors. We will never admit a government that massacres people, and the culprit must plead guilty and step down. A leader said worriedly: I can understand your feelings, what happened in Beijing, and what will happen, none of us can tell, but we can't make any more troubles here. It seems that we and they are not completely opposed to each other, and the so-called "dialogue" has become their own analysis and discussion of the current situation.

On June 5th and 6th, there were many conflicts between the students and the factory. There were cars in the factory that had to be forced out of the factory, saying that they were loaded with important materials that had to be shipped out. A secretary of the FAW Group and a student yelled at each other at the factory gate. It rained on the 5th and many students got wet. The sun was shining brightly for the next two days, and my face was sunburnt like a tortoise's shell, and I could tear off the skin piece by piece. There was a dramatic scene on the afternoon of the 6th (or the afternoon of the 5th), and suddenly there was a shocking news, "Deng Xiaoping fled, Yang Shangkun committed suicide, Li Peng was injured by his guards", it is said that the Voice of America and the BBC 's report. There was a big commotion in the crowd, and the students were greatly encouraged. At this time, a group of leaders (including several city leaders and senior officers) came to the students, shook hands with each other and thanked us, saying, "Everyone has worked hard. Now, the people have won!" It turned out that they all had "a red heart and two hands ready".

By June 7, the news in Beijing gradually became clear: heavy casualties, the collapse of the square, the situation was irreversible, and the democratic movement had failed. Today, the number of students surrounding the assembly plant has become less and less, and all the members of the self-government association have disappeared, but the five gates of the assembly plant are still in our hands, and there are still a group of students who vow to persevere to the end. This "bottom" is nothing more than waiting for the government to capture or beat us away.

Without any authorization, I volunteered to act as a "student representative", negotiating with the factory and government leaders about the conditions of the retreat. When the other party heard that I could decide whether to retreat or not, they immediately “negotiated” with me in fear and fear, and readily agreed to the three conditions I mentioned: First, broadcast a statement expressing understanding and support for the patriotic enthusiasm of the students; Second, promise not to arrest or expel any student due to the factory blockage incident (they failed to do this. More than ten people have been arrested and imprisoned in the Automotive Academy, but only one student has been arrested, and the rest are teachers); Third, when the students left the assembly plant, all cars honked their horns for three minutes to express their condolences to the dead in Beijing. I also successfully persuaded the last hundred or so students who wanted to "stay the course". At my request, the students cleaned the sanitation at the entrance of the factory before leaving. In the past three days, we produced a lot of domestic garbage. In the evening, the "event of containment of the assembly plant" finally ended peacefully and sadly.

five

For many years, I have always felt that many of my thoughts and actions during the "June 4th" period were naive and "mentally retarded". Indeed, I was all wrong. My analysis of "the Communist Party will not shoot" underestimates the brutality of the Communist Party, and my judgment that "the students will not retreat at gunpoint" overestimates the courage of the protesters.

I have read the accounts of Mr. Liu Xiaobo, Mr. Zhou Duo and others on the retreat from the square, but I do not fully agree with their views. I am somewhat regretful about the performance of the students at the Plaza from May 19 to June 4, and disappointed with the retreat on June 4. In my opinion, the students were long overdue to withdraw from the square, but unfortunately chose the worst time to withdraw. The hardliners in the party are justified, and the slaughterers are complacent. They will say: It is long overdue to fight, if he is not beaten, he will never be satisfied, and if he is beaten, he will withdraw immediately.

What I couldn't let go of for a long time was: I knew that I had to withdraw in the end, why didn't I plan ahead? When there is still a bargain, when there is still room for advance and retreat, and when there is still a choice, why not withdraw, why not withdraw after Yan Mingfu and Zhao Ziyang shouted in the square, and have to give the soldiers the credit for clearing the field, and wait until Wu Fu sends a blow. , When the gunfire speaks, the bayonet sees red, and there is no reason to speak, then withdraw? He used to be so arrogant that "heads can be cut off, blood can be shed" and "democratic or dead", aren't these arrogant words self-deception? The citizens of Beijing have been sacrificed in the front, and the people of the whole country are fighting hard in the back, but the protagonists are one by one, trying to avoid danger. Where is the "loyalty"? Instead of being wanted by embarrassment after breaking up, how could the righteous be bound on the spot? Not necessarily will be mass shooting on the spot, right? Are the soldiers of the party and the state really monolithic, with a heart of stone, and dare to kill thousands of people in groups without any scruples?

I say this, maybe a little "cold-blooded", or maybe really "ridiculous". But my reason is: when others show softness, you shouldn't be brave, others are rampant, and you shouldn't give in. Life is like this, so should the democracy movement; resistance at the last moment of life and death is often the most decisive. If Tiananmen Square is attacked for a while If there is no victory and no decision is made in the battle, what will happen within the army, within the Party, and across the country is still uncertain. At this critical moment when the whole nation is panicking, there may not be a few people who are "prepared with both hands", but is the majority. Saying this now, it's all for later, but maybe it's not all nonsense.

In 2008, I read Mr. Hu Ping's good article "Reflections on the 1989 Democracy Movement", and I felt it was profound and insightful, which made me suddenly enlightened. He said "if it's good, it's closed, and when it's bad, it's up", which is exactly the answer I was puzzled by back then. Mr. Hu Ping's remarks also helped me regain a little self-confidence, and I felt that although my ideas were naive, they were not necessarily all wrong. I'd probably be considered a "get it when you see it wrong" person. If there was no "June 4th" massacre, I would not have participated in the street movement.

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"June 4th" completely changed my life. My personal life took a turn from that day and it became a mess. I lost my graduate student status, lost my university teaching position, and lost my personal freedom. Then there is a serious illness, the husband and wife are divorced, the family is broken up, wandering around, tossing and turning to make a living. Now that I think about it, it is not difficult to die for the "June 4th", but it is not easy to live for the "June 4th". It took me many years to gradually adapt to the new era and new life after the "June 4th".

In the past 21 years, many things have changed their appearance, but my memory is still clear, and many scenes from that year are still vivid in my mind. It was a nightmare. Whenever I recalled the past, I would once again experience the grief, anger and despair of the past, and also think of the unfortunate life that followed after the "June 4th". It's a really painful thing. As far as my personal aspirations are concerned, I very much do not wish for another movement like the 1989 in China, and look forward to some more robust and mature new forms of nonviolent resistance. But if there is another movement like that, I hope we and our latecomers can do better.

2010-5-26

"China Human Rights Bi-Weekly" was first published, please indicate the source for reprinting:

http://biweeklyarchive.hrichina.org/article/479

Yang Guang: Why do I hate "public servants"

About seven or eight years ago, I was debating people on a certain mailing group. A friend of the debate said that officials are public servants and should serve the people. I said that I hate words like "public servants" and suggested that they should be reserved for the official media, and we try not to use them. A friend of the debate asked why, I said a long story, and when I have time in the future, I will write an article on deconstructing public servants. Hence this article.

1. Analysis of the meaning of "public servant"

It is totally unreasonable to combine "servant" and "servant" into the word "servant" in simplified Chinese characters. In fact, these two characters are not related at all. "Pu" means to fall down (called Pujie in Cantonese), which means to fall to the ground before. For example, in the idiom, the person in front of him falls down and the person behind him picks up. "Servant" is the meaning of servant, servant, servant, servant, servant. It used to refer to the slaves and servants in the family, that is, people who obey their masters and are sent by their masters to perform lowly labor. Before the Republic of China, adult men who knew the book and Dali often referred to themselves as servants in the letter, which was a way of expressing self-humility and paying tribute to the other party.

The so-called "public servant" is a political concept derived from the West and popular in modern times. What does "public servant" mean? Did you fall at work during business hours? of course not. The word "servant" in "public servant" is the literal "servant" rather than "servant", which means public servant and public servant. (For the convenience of typing, the following "public servant" still uses the simplified word "public servant" without quotation marks.)

However, since ancient times, there have only been domestic servants and private servants in the world, and there has never been and cannot be any public servant or public servant. A servant can carry shoes, bags, attendants, and escort for his master. If he is carrying shoes, bags, attendants, and escorts for an almost infinite number of citizens, no one in the world can do this kind of servanthood, unless the servant is an immortal. is superman.

Furthermore, the concept of public servants is not logically consistent. Because servanthood is established on the ethical basis of the master-servant relationship, and the existence of the master-servant relationship—whether it is a servant based on a labor contract relationship in modern times or a domestic slave based on a personal attachment relationship in ancient times—is based on the family autonomy system and the system of private property as its foundation, therefore, if there is no master, there will be no servant, and if there is no selflessness, there will be no servant, just as the father must be the father and not the father of the family, and the wife must be the wife of the family and not the public wife.

The political rhetoric of public servants

In the identity ethics of human society, the master is noble and the servant is low. So why are those powerful, arrogant, and indomitable dignitaries willing to call themselves and be called public servants? This seems to be an odd thing. The mystery here lies in political rhetoric. It should be noted that the focus of public servants is not on the servants, but on the public, just as the key to "serving the people" is not serving, but "the people". For public servants are necessarily not servants, and the "people" - the people as a whole - cannot receive any kind of specific service. (There is a classic deconstructed dialogue in the Mao era, "I serve the people, not you." This sentence alone brings "serving the people" back to its original form.)

This kind of political rhetoric is characterized by forcibly embedding everyday language into a political context that is incompatible with it, thereby forming a deviation between the everyday meaning of the language and its non-ordinary usage, thereby creating a meaning trap for political concepts. The same goes for "the people's son" and "the people's steward".

Servant, waiter, and son are not universal identities, but a special identity under a specific corresponding relationship, which exists relative to the existence of masters, customers, and parents, and their basic meaning and daily usage are behind the complete and structured social relationship. closely related to cultural background. The so-called public servants, "serving the people" or "the people's sons" translate family ethics and business service ethics into the political field, and virtualize the relationship between the ruler and the ruled as family kinship or business service relationship. That is to break away from the master-servant relationship and virtualize the "public-servant" model, separate from the business service relationship and virtualize the "people-servant" model, separate from the father-son or mother-son relationship, and virtualize the "people (or motherland)-son" model. After the cultural background and discourse scene are shifted and confused, the original meaning of the words servant, service, son, etc., no longer exists.

Such a political rhetoric is nothing more than to develop a "magic that is cast upon us by means of language" (Wittgenstein). But in the end, it's just a lame "language game". A servant who really carries shoes, bags, attendants, and escorts for the master, even if he is "one servant and two masters" or "three surname servants", will never consider himself a "public servant".

3. The "public servant" consciousness of "Laozi", "Mencius", Buddhism and Christianity

"Lao Tzu" said: "If you want to go up to the people, follow your words; if you want to precede the people, follow them behind you." This is a warning to the rulers, to be the masters of the people, they must lie and pretend to be the people's servants. This is hypocritical and contrived, and it is also what has always been criticized for the "Lao Tzu"-style political maneuvering. "Mencius" says that the people are precious and the ruler is light, because Mencius sincerely believed that for the political function of the state, especially for the ultimate meaning of the state, the ruler is far less reliable and important than the people. Therefore, although both "Mencius" and "Laozi" advocate that rulers should show humility to their subjects, Mencius' humility is substantive, sincere and frank, while "Laozi"'s humility is scheming and political rhetoric.

Most of the major religions in the world have egalitarian tendencies, and they also have feelings of saving the world and helping the people. Buddhism not only talks about the equality of all people, but also about the equality of all living beings. There is no difference between humans and animals, plants, humans and gods. In Zen Buddhism, not only good people can "enlighten themselves and become Buddhas", but evil people can also "put down the butcher's knife and become Buddhas on the ground." Although Buddhism recognizes the distinction between masters and servants, it does not recognize the distinction between high and low in human nature. The Buddha is both the prophet and the servant of all beings.

In Christianity, God and man are in a master-servant relationship, Jesus Christ is "my Lord", and Christians are the Lord's servants. However, the incarnate Christ came into the world as mortals to help, save, and serve people, and to offer unconditional, undifferentiated, and unreserved love of Christ to his servants—the whole world—at all costs. Suffer and sacrifice for this.

In the specific context of Buddhism and Christianity, man is the servant of God, and Buddha and God can be called public servants of all living beings. In this sense, the real public servant of the whole people must be God, and can only be God. The public servant consciousness of religion and the messiah consciousness are completely unified. God speaks myths, man speaks man's words, what belongs to God belongs to God, and what belongs to Caesar belongs to Caesar. Secular rulers claim to be public servants, but they are trying to turn people's words into myths, and they must have learned the wisdom of religion. By calling themselves public servants, they are putting themselves in the position of Buddha and Christ.

4. The past and present of public servants

Marxism started from Germany and came to China via Russia. As everyone knows, the word public servant is also an authentic German product. It came to China and was introduced by Sun Wen, the temporary president of the Republic of China. Left populism adds to the concept of public servants.

Undoubtedly, the first man to describe himself as a public servant must have been a genius, both politically and linguistically—this man was the famous Prussian King Friedrich II (1712-1786, old). Translated as Frederick II, known as "Frederick the Great"). The king is erudite, talented and proficient in many languages (English and French are extremely fluent, but his native German is poor, and it is said that he even learned Chinese in his later years). He was a poet, musician, philosopher, orator, and a good friend of Voltaire (and later became an enemy); he was also a great military strategist, who expanded the territory and made great achievements in war, and made the first contribution for Germany to become a European power. , is the idol worshipped by the younger soldiers Napoleon and Hitler.

Friedrich II invented the term public servant and called himself "the first public servant of the country", but his behavior was not servant-like at all. On the contrary, as the first absolute absolute monarch in Prussian history, he was powerful. All subjects, such as nobles, peasants, soldiers, merchants, etc., must obey his arbitrariness unconditionally, and will not tolerate any criticism of his decrees and words and deeds. Yes, this "first public servant in history" is a standard dictator, but he is an enlightened dictator with culture. This is the origin of public servants.

Later, the term public servant was gradually accepted and loved by the public opinion of various countries. In the beginning, only the supreme ruler of the country called himself a public servant, but it has evolved along the way. Now, all the "national civil servants" who enter the public door and eat public money are so-called public servants. Just as the so-called "serving the people" was originally used by Mao Zedong to praise him for being an orderly, and later it was said that Zhang Side, an outstanding Communist Party member who devoted himself to the opium refining industry for the sake of the revolutionary cause and died unfortunately in his youth, later became a member of the Communist Party. It is a political slogan that everyone can use for themselves except the rich and the right.

Whether it is a public servant or "serving the people", the first person to adopt this kind of political rhetoric is a genius, and those who follow and abuse it are mediocrity and idiots. Compared with European and American societies, today's Chinese people especially like the word public servant, which shows that there are more mediocrities and stupid people in China. There are also historical reasons, probably because China has a very long-standing traditional political concept of "king father" and "parent official", which is overkill. Therefore, it is necessary to use public servants as the antonym of "king father", "sacred Shang" and "parent official", which is an artificial concept. shock wave.

Moreover, China is still an official-based society: official rank is still the primary measure of social status and achievement in life. Being an official is not an ordinary occupation, but a "superior person" who has made a name for himself and honored his ancestors. Most After people have achieved something in their studies and careers, their greatest desire is still to be an official and a high-ranking official. It is in such an out-and-out official-based society that the political term of public servant, which is completely unreal and somewhat ironic, is particularly popular.

Calling officials public servants, for "grass people" and "fart people", can produce a bit of Ah Q's "sense of gain", which seems to be compensated psychologically; for officials themselves, it seems to be painted all over the body A layer of self-deceiving political camouflage, when the officials are inhumane and misbehaving, they are more righteous: I work hard for the people, work hard as a public servant for you, take more and be more greedy, shouldn’t it?

5. "Serving the people" is contrary to constitutionalism

The concept of public servants sounds, at first glance, full of contempt and selfless dedication, but in modern politics, it makes no sense. To be an official is to be an official, a common occupation. There is no need to be arrogant or arrogant. As soon as you go out, it is "inspection", when you mention a pen, it is "instruction", and when you open your mouth, it is "important speech". Such people say that they are public servants, and once they say it is black humor. They often say that they say it every day. People babble.

Public servants, "serving the people" are incompatible with modern constitutionalism. Under the constitutional system, government officials and state civil servants are neither masters nor servants. They have no essential difference from other identities and other occupations in modern society, and there is no distinction between high and low grades. Officials are of course not nobles, but there is no need to degrade themselves as sluts - what's more, such self-deprecation has always been purely verbal fraud. Officials are not slaves to the people, and civil servants are not sold to the state. Their relationship with the people is that of a client and a representative; their relationship with the state is based on the labor contract relationship based on the Constitution, administrative law, and civil servant law, not an order. - Obedience relationship, or personal attachment relationship.

The Chinese authorities and their government officials do not have to sing about "serving the people". What officials should do and should not do, how they should do and should not be done, is determined by the law, not by "serving the people". For example, the Minister of Defense cannot go to the Ministry of Education to "serve the people," and the president of the state cannot go to the State Department to point fingers at the State Department under the banner of "serving the people." In the constitutional system, "serving the people" has never been the main point. According to the provisions of the Constitution and the law, perform duties according to the law, assume responsibilities according to the law, accept supervision according to the law, and manage the things that should be managed according to the law, and do not go beyond the authority of the things that are not authorized by the law. Governance - even if you are addicted to "serving the people", you should let the people govern themselves and not abuse their powers. This is the essence of being an official under the constitutional system.

2016/2/16

("China Human Rights Biweekly" No. 177 February 19-March 3, 2016)

Jiang Peikun: The Endless Cry of the Undying Pursuit – My Impression of 89 | Beijing Spring

The 13th anniversary of the Tiananmen Democracy Movement in 1989 is approaching. The movement that remains in my memory today may only be fragmentary and fragmented impressions, but it is still important to me because it was a part of my life and it changed me because of it the latter half of his life.

──Commemorating the 13th anniversary of June Fourth

July 2002 issue

When the student movement in the spring of 1989 began, Ding and I were just bystanders. This is natural to us. Having experienced all political movements, especially the ten-year "Cultural Revolution", we have grown tired of politics; especially for mass political movements, it can be said that there is almost an instinctual hatred.

Therefore, we initially adopted a evasive and wait-and-see attitude towards this student movement; news about this student movement was only passively accepted; the sources of information were limited, only from our own students and his son who was in middle school. At that time, Ding Zheng and I were teaching at the Philosophy Department of Renmin University of China, and I also served as the director of the school's aesthetics research institute, while Ding was the director of the aesthetics teaching and research section. We all brought in some graduate students who were doing a master's degree in aesthetics. Perhaps because of their majors, these students were more sensitive and caring to various popular trends of thought at that time, especially those in the humanities; Absorb new ideas and concepts from Western writings. Therefore, whether in daily speech or in discussions of social, political and academic issues, we can detect a kind of unease and restlessness in them.

A thirst for a new state of existence .

During their undergraduate and graduate studies, these students caught up with several waves that mainstream ideology dismissed as "bourgeois liberalization." Although the ruling authorities have launched criticism campaigns against this so-called "liberalization" again and again, they have given all their sympathy to those "liberalizers" who have been purged, such as Wang Ruoshui and Liu Binyan , Fang Lizhi, etc., because in their view, it was precisely these people who were regarded as rebellious by the so-called orthodox at the time and their heretical remarks, which gave them the courage and strength to break free from the traditional rigid dogma, and showed them A new horizon where personal freedom of choice is possible.

This is an era in which the shackles of thought are gradually being broken. For young students who are fortunate enough to enter the hall of universities, they are afraid of falling behind or being regarded as backward by others. They are eager to change, participate, and realize their own goals. value. Gradually, a challenging political consciousness emerged among this new generation of youth. They watched every movement around them like hunters in the wilderness, looking for every possible opportunity. In the spring of 1989, a new opportunity finally came. As has happened in history, they sensitively seized on the death of an enlightened leader as an outlet to express their claims.

This time was the sudden death of former CCP general secretary Hu Yaobang. Hu was a CCP leader who was deeply loved by the intellectuals, especially young students. There was once a student movement. On April 15, Hu's unjust death caused a huge shock from all walks of life, and the voices of injustice and resentment could be heard everywhere. But what people did not expect was that this incident became the fuse that triggered a new round of student movement. In just a few days, college students in Beijing "raised up" and formed a movement of student demonstrations and petitions that were considered sacred at the time. In the first few days of the student protests, Ding and I still taught the students as usual and guided their class discussions as usual, but everyone's mind was no longer in the classroom.

Excited, excited, and indignant, they recounted everything that happened in the capital's colleges and universities and Tiananmen Square. As their teacher, I don't care about the dignity of teachers. I realized that everything I said had become pale and unpopular with them. I understand their emotions and feel they should not be discouraged from participating in the movement, but I have my doubts. I think of the Red Guard Movement during the "Cultural Revolution", the Tiananmen Square Movement of 1976, and the student movement that spread from Anwei to Shanghai to Beijing two years ago when Hu Yaobang was deposed. There is always an ominous premonition, and I would like to give them some advice, such as telling them that the results of the previous student movements were not very good. Victims of high-level factional struggle. I also want to tell them that in China, politics is a filthy quagmire, and if you jump into it, you will be covered in filth, and many people will be despised by the world because of this. However, I didn't say it: I don't think they'd be able to listen to a class like this now. I decided to wait and see how things unfolded.

At home, my wife and I have to deal with our own son. My son was only a middle school student under seventeen years old. Perhaps out of teenage curiosity, perhaps political precociousness, I noticed that almost from the first day of the student movement, he showed an unusual concern for the movement. Ding and I both remember. On the evening that Peking University, Tsinghua University, Renmin University, Normal University and other schools just posted the first batch of big-character posters, he brought the relevant news to his home. In the next few days, he often used his spare time to travel to and from several nearby universities, listening to university students' speeches, and transcribing some slogans, couplets and big-character posters from those schools, almost to the point of forgetting to sleep and eat. We can still recall a couple of couplets he copied to this day: "The damned did not die, but the undeserved died."

At that time, he understood in his heart, and we also understood in our hearts, who the damned and the undeserved were referring to. We are not particularly surprised by our son's concern for this student movement, because this is not the first time for him. During the student movement in late 1986 and early 1987, he often braved the severe cold to go to various schools to listen to lectures, copy big-character posters, and learn about the student movement. At that time he was a child less than fifteen years old. In the face of our son's strong sense of participation, as parents, our hearts are contradictory. We are people from the past, and we always hope that our son will study hard and not care about politics, but when we think about it, we feel that the times are different now, and we should not let him follow our old ways. Besides, he is just a minor. It is impossible for a middle school student to be involved in sports like a college student, so it may be a good thing for him to use his spare time to open his eyes, understand the society, and feel the atmosphere of sports. I said to him euphemistically: "You are still young, you can't participate in sports like a college student, you can go out and see it, it's a kind of study of democracy." However, his mother's attitude was very clear, perhaps out of Because of the mother's nature, she has been worried about her son since the beginning of the exercise, for fear of what might happen. So I always wanted to keep my son at home. Looking back now, her worries at the time were justified.

In the next few days, we heard that college students were taking to the streets, and that a lot of people gathered in Tiananmen Square. On April 19, we heard that some students went to Xinhuamen on the west side of Tiananmen Square to petition. After dinner that day, my son was at home. Unable to hold back, he offered to take a look. His mother's repeated dissuasion failed, so I asked his brother-in-law, a doctoral student from Tsinghua University, to ride a bicycle with him to Xinhuamen. To reassure his mother, he agreed to go there and call home. Later we learned from his phone what happened at Xinhuamen: students sat in sit-ins, gave speeches, shouted slogans, the police drove away the crowd, beat people, arrested people, and finally put the students into a limousine and dragged them back to their respective schools. The next day, we heard that there was blood in front of the Xinhua Gate that night, and that a female student was seriously injured.

At this time, the student movement in Beijing has become a major event of national and even global concern. On the campus, some people openly disseminated information about the student movement heard from foreign radio stations such as the Voice of America and the BBC, and more people released relevant news in the public as witnesses. Some news may be false, but people all feel an urgent atmosphere of "mountains and rains are coming": every latest development of the situation, even a small thing, affects people's attention Heart.

At this moment, Ding and I can no longer speak in class: but we still go to class on time, even though the class is empty. April 22 is the day when the official memorial service was held for the late General Secretary Hu Yaobang. I heard that many college students from various schools gathered in Tiananmen Square that day. They were not allowed to enter the Great Hall, and could only be marked out by the authorities. A memorial service was held outside the cordon. Later, I heard that several student representatives knelt down and petitioned in front of the Great Hall of the People. This incident has aroused widespread discussion, and some people compared it to the "book on the bus" in the late Qing Dynasty, and felt that such a thing should not happen today. We also disapprove of this matter, feeling that today is no longer the era of imperial power, and doing so is contrary to the new era. But it was generally believed at the time that the students' demands were reasonable and should be properly accommodated, even if they were allowed to send some representatives. However, the students' restraint, forbearance, and even kneeling were not exchanged for a kind response from the government authorities. Instead, they were humiliated and ridiculed. This naturally aroused their anger.

In the days that followed, more students took to the streets, and more people rallied in Tiananmen Square. The whole city of Beijing was filled with panic and anxiety, and people didn't know what was going to happen. This suffocating day lasted until April 26th. After dinner that day, I met some familiar and unfamiliar people on campus. They were nervous and secretive, and they were all talking about the same thing. They said that Deng Xiaoping had a speech on the student movement. He also said not to be afraid of foreign public opinion, not to be afraid of bloodshed, even if it is 200,000 dead for 20 years of stability. I was skeptical about these words. I felt that things were not so serious. How could I have thought of dead people going up there, but it sounded murderous and creepy at the time. That is, on this night, I suddenly heard it from the "News Network" of the radio station. Then came an editorial in the People's Daily titled "We must take a clear stand to stop the unrest." The atmosphere on the campus suddenly became tense, and people's faces all showed a kind of worry and panic. The next day, everyone rushed to read the newspaper, which confirmed the rumored speech by Deng. This incident was like a bolt from the blue, stunned many people.

Previously, almost all the people in Beijing who were sympathetic to the student movement, including those intellectuals with newer ideas, believed that the student movement was a patriotic democratic movement. At that time, "patriotism" was still a good word that made the blood of all Chinese sons and daughters boil, and it was not like today's mention of "patriotism" would make people feel fooled. As far as some of the students I have been able to get in touch with, I feel that they really got into the movement out of a patriotic zeal. Although they have a lot of dissatisfaction with some of the government's measures, they do not see any intention to create unrest or overthrow the government. This can also be seen from some of the slogans circulating at that time. They demanded to speed up the pace of political reform, punish officials for corruption, and demand freedom of speech and association for citizens. At that time, people were still fresh in the memory of the "Cultural Revolution" turmoil that caused serious disasters, and some people were indeed worried that this student movement would repeat the same mistakes of the "Cultural Revolution"; but more people felt that this student movement was different from the "Cultural Revolution" , they do not believe that there will be another turmoil like the "Cultural Revolution".

In these days, the son often brings back some latest news, and occasionally expresses some of his own opinions. I think he suddenly grew up and there seemed to be a sense of responsibility in him, he told us that he would love to be in the parade, but college students wouldn't let strangers join their parade, so he had to help maintain the sidewalks Order, as a voluntary picket, perhaps, I have more understanding and communication of some of my son's ideas. At that time, I could not deny the legitimacy of my son's desire to participate; I even had doubts about myself ——I wonder if I have become a laggard of the times. To this day, whenever I think of this incident, I still have an inextricable guilt, feeling ashamed of my dead son. It is hard to imagine that before the student parade on April 27, we parents did not step out of the school gate to actually feel the atmosphere of the student movement. What force makes us imprison ourselves in small study rooms and classrooms? The so-called sympathy for the student movement, understand, isn't this too cheap!

In order to protest the People's Daily's "April 26" editorial that characterized the student movement as a turmoil, university students from Peking University, Tsinghua University, and the National People's Congress launched a massive demonstration on the second day after the editorial was published. . It is said that there were millions of people who took to the streets that day, including people from all walks of life in the capital who went to watch and show solidarity. This morning, I finally plucked up the courage to step out of the school gate for the first time and witnessed the exhilarating grand scene as a bystander. The parade marched slowly from Tsinghua University and Peking University towards the National People's Congress, and encountered a large number of military and police interceptions. Every time it reached an intersection, the team had to stop, and a confrontation with the military and police formed. It seems that it is very difficult to move forward. But soon the blockades were broken. On both sides of the road, I watched in a tidal wave of solidarity. One intersection after another, the military and police formed a phalanx of blocking and blocking, allowing the parade to pass smoothly between the human walls built on both sides. I personally felt the back of the heart.

The Communist Party's propaganda has always used the so-called "fish and water" to describe the relationship between the army and the people. Some elderly people often talk about the moving scenes when Beijing citizens welcomed the "Jiejun" into the city in 1949. But this is another scene. The "People's Liberation Army", which has always been respected, has actually stood on the opposite side of students and citizens. But the students and citizens did not seem to hate the "PLA," much less want to clash with the military and police sent to suppress them; on the contrary, in order to minimize friction with the military and police, they took the initiative to limit the parade to the sidewalk. The mighty, endless marching procession was in good order along the way. Qiu did not commit any crimes, and there were neither radical actions, nor radical slogans or slogans. In order to demonstrate the legitimacy of this parade, the students even copied the relevant provisions of the constitution in large, conspicuous letters on the placards. . . . From what I've witnessed, I feel more and more how unreasonable and absurd it is for the government authorities to call this student movement a "turmoil"! I began to realize that I had some kind of responsibility, as a witness to the movement, to support the school. The "April 27" parade shook the entire city of Beijing, forcing all sectors of society to express their attitude towards the student movement. The next morning, a branch of the Jiu San Society, my democratic party, held a special meeting on the current situation. At this meeting, the participants discussed the unpopular "426" editorial and the resulting march of millions. They believed that the editorial's characterization of the student movement as "turmoil" was completely contrary to the facts. Authorities must correct it. At that time, as one of the leaders of this branch, I proposed to issue a written statement to express my party's attitude.

I remember the gist of this statement: the government should publicly acknowledge that this student movement is a patriotic and democratic movement. And retracted that editorial, the government should resolve the demands of the students through dialogue and give up repression. This reflected the general public opinion at that time, and it was also my inner prayer at that time. In the days after the "April 27" parade, the college students did not organize a larger action. According to rumors from various quarters, it seems that the government asked students to return to school and resume classes, and the students asked for a dialogue with the government. I remember that the government had arranged a dialogue during this period. I saw on TV that there were many student representatives participating in this dialogue. The room was full, and some of them seemed to be officially designated. As for what the two sides said in this dialogue, I have no impression. The one who gave me the most was Yuan Mu from the government. This person was like a river. He calmly responded to the questions and censures of the student representatives, but every sentence revealed the tact and hypocrisy that is unique to some Communist Party bureaucrats. Of course, such a conversation would not have any good results. At that time, the society was generally worried that the further development of the situation would get out of hand, so it was hoped that the government would have a sincere dialogue with the students so as not to intensify the conflict again. On the student side, it seems that some people want to give up the fight, hoping to return to school as soon as possible. During this time, we are most at ease. In addition to his own son, it is our students. We know that some of our students have been aggressive since the student movement. We are worried that they will do irrational things, so we often go to the student dormitory to persuade them; especially Ding, she feels that as a teacher, it is important to protect It was her duty to be good students, so she went to them almost every day after dinner. But we found that it was very difficult for us to persuade them at this time.

On May 4th, students from various schools held a meeting in Tiananmen Square to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the "May Fourth" Movement. I heard that they also announced a resolution to resume classes. The atmosphere at that time seemed to have eased a little, but everyone knew that the confrontation between the students and the government had not been eliminated, and the student protests could not subside soon. That is, on this afternoon, the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee held two symposiums, one was a symposium of well-known personalities chaired by Minister Yan Mingfu, and the other was a symposium of democratic parties in colleges and universities that he commissioned a vice minister to chair. I attended the latter meeting, and I remember that some people from Peking University, Tsinghua University, Renmin University, and Normal University attended this meeting. As members of the democratic parties, everyone knew that holding such a meeting would not do much to resolve the student protests, but everyone still spoke up, and the atmosphere at the meeting was very lively, because everyone knew that Yan Mingfu, who was the Minister of United Front Work at the time, was a more open-minded person. Communist Party officials, and the United Front Work Department he chairs also respects opinions from democratic parties. At this meeting, many people criticized Deng Xiaoping's handling of the student protests, and some even suggested that if Deng couldn't handle the student protests properly, he should let others handle them. At that time, everyone knew in their hearts that the speaker was referring to Zhao Ziyang by "others", because Zhao was the general secretary at the time, and it was not only justifiable and reasonable for him to deal with the student protests. Later, I heard that on this day, in a speech on the board of directors of the Asian Development Bank (Asian Development Bank), Zhao proposed to bring this student movement into the track of democracy and the rule of law to solve it. At the time, this proposition was generally endorsed by all walks of life, including most of the students who participated in the student movement, but it did not seem to be recognized by some hardliners at the top of the CCP.

At that time, a common wish from all walks of life was that the government would change its tough attitude towards the student movement. At the symposium I attended, almost all the speeches also focused on this point. In addition to asking the government to retract the "unrest" statement, they also proposed that the government should recognize the legitimacy of student self-government organizations, because this is the basis for eliminating the gap between students and the government and achieving equal dialogue. Some speakers at the meeting also talked about the reasons for this student movement, believing that this is the inevitable result of the government delaying the political reform while carrying out economic reform. Therefore, the government is required to start and speed up the pace of political reform, and take concrete steps to implement the constitution as soon as possible. various civil rights in the government, and establish an effective communication mechanism between the government and the opposition. In particular, the speakers strongly urged the government to comply with public opinion and take practical measures to punish corrupt officials and corrupt officials, and fundamentally eliminate factors that affect social stability. This meeting swept away the dull atmosphere of sitting down and talking about things in the past when the democratic parties held meetings. The participants spoke fiercely, earnestly and frankly. Looking back now, a series of such symposiums held by the United Front Work Department at that time were probably facilitated by the faction of the top CCP leader Zhao. Later, Yan Mingfu’s enlightened approach in handling the student movement, and the resignation of Yan Suizhao after the “June 4th” And being purged may explain this.

In the days to come, whether the government and students can reach an agreement to achieve equal dialogue has become a major concern for people from all walks of life. People's emotions fluctuated and fluctuated with the constant news, and the whole city of Beijing was in a state of anxious waiting. Everyone was looking forward to a good turnaround. But as time passed by, the conversation became more and more elusive. Almost everyone I met on campus in those days felt anxious and pessimistic about the current situation, and felt that the government had become unreasonable; why can't the heads of the party and state who keep calling themselves "public servants" "condescend" to the same What about the students sitting together? Do they lose their face in doing so, and the government ceases to be the government?

Finally, on the evening of May 13th, people waited for an explosive news that shocked the whole city. The students announced a hunger strike! What people didn't want to happen happened, and the government drove the students to a dead end. I happened to be out that afternoon and met a group of students coming from Peking University at the intersection of Shuangyushu. What amazes me is that they didn't slogan or shout any slogans. It didn't look like a parade, but everyone seemed to be marching fast and looked very serious. I grabbed a student and wanted to ask the question, but the other side avoided answering. Only later did I find out that they went to Tiananmen Square to go on a hunger strike. In the whole week that followed, people poured all their attention, all their feelings, all their worries and hopes into Tiananmen Square; especially the ordinary people in Beijing, whether they were elderly people or elementary school students who were not yet proficient. , are always concerned about the safety of the students on hunger strike.

They continuously sent all kinds of necessary supplies to the square, such as clothes, bedding, plastic sheets for shelter from the rain, drinking water and so on. When the news that more and more students on hunger strike had collapsed and were sent to the hospital for emergency treatment, almost all of them became anxious and worried, eagerly hoping that this situation would end sooner. In those days, people from all walks of life in the capital, including intellectuals, cultural circles, and civil servants from some party and government ministries, took to the streets one after another, launching a massive demonstration in solidarity with the students on hunger strike, and the whole of Beijing became a boiling ocean. During this period, various democratic parties, social groups, some scholars and celebrities, including the presidents of several famous universities, also issued open letters, expressing their concern about the current situation, calling on the government to talk to students, and calling on students to evacuate the square. This solidarity movement even extended to the Communist Party. I remember that one hundred Communist Party members in the philosophy department of my school jointly issued a similar appeal letter. At that time, as a Communist Party member, I also signed my name on the appeal letter. . What attracted people's attention was that journalists from various major media in the capital at that time also joined the ranks of solidarity. Using the slogan "Don't force us to lie", they took advantage of the short-term loss of control of the news control to attack the national solidarity movement. Timely and extensive coverage. This has never been seen since the establishment of the Communist Party of China in 1949.

On the afternoon of May 16, my school spontaneously formed a group of professors to visit the students who were on hunger strike in Tiananmen Square. This was the first time I had set foot on Tiananmen Square since the student protests occurred. At that time, the square was already crowded and crowded. However, the festive bustling scene could hardly conceal the heavy tragic atmosphere that permeated the entire square. We moved to the center of the square step by step, and our mood gradually became heavier. There, eyes turned in the same direction from time to time, watching the ambulances whizzing past, screaming and screaming, we realized the seriousness of the situation, and the slow-moving footsteps almost stopped. We walked for a long time and finally entered the student hunger strike circle through the checkpoints set up by the student picket team. The scene there was unbearable.

Many students who were incapacitated due to hunger were lying down in the temporary tents. Their eyes were dull and their expressions were weary. Some students seemed to be dying, approaching the limit of their lives. We expressed our condolences to them, and some of them struggled to hug us tightly, tears running down their cheeks and soaking their shirts, and everyone present couldn't help shedding tears. This is a choice between life and death, but unexpectedly it is in Tiananmen Square, a symbol of the Republic! What the ancients called "sacrificing one's life for righteousness"! I have no doubt that the blood of those martyrs in the history of the Chinese nation still flows through these students. I often think that no matter how different people's value orientations may be due to the changes of the times, this spirit of giving up one's life for righteousness should never be discarded, because human beings have a nature to pursue freedom. When necessary, he will give up everything he has, including his life, for this freedom. Moments like this are unforgettable for me, it makes my quivering soul restless, and I feel like I can no longer live as peacefully as I used to.

In the afternoon, we also accidentally met Yan Mingfu, Minister of the United Front Work Department, to give a speech in the square. Due to the noise in the square, only fragments of his speech could be heard intermittently from the loudspeakers. What impressed me the most at the time was that Yan almost cried and begged the students to evacuate the square, speaking very sincerely and bluntly. I remember in his speech that he assured the students that the Party Central Committee would definitely revise the People's Daily's statement about "turmoil", and that the Party Central Committee would never settle accounts for the students who participated in the sports. He said that if his classmates didn't believe him, he could be held hostage and accompany the students back to their school. Yan's speech deeply moved the people in the square, including the students on hunger strike, and we were a little relieved. But as a result, the students did not leave the square, and the center did not change the conclusion of "turmoil", and the situation became more and more unmanageable. At that time, it was clear to everyone that there were serious differences at the top of the CCP.

For the next three days, the march in solidarity with the students on hunger strike from all walks of life in Beijing reached a climax. A student petition movement with the struggle for freedom and democracy as its main demands eventually evolved into a nationwide protest movement with a wide range of demands against the CCP’s autocracy. Corruption became the main slogan of the movement. This is an independent and spontaneously formed civic movement. Its nature is completely different from the previous mass movements launched by the Communist Party. The scale of the movement and the wide participation of the people are unprecedented in history.

On May 17, not only ordinary people in Beijing, but also various democratic parties that have always obeyed the Communist Party joined the torrent of demonstrations and protests by millions of people in the capital, including my party, the Jiu San Society. What surprised me that day was that when our parade came to the square, it was warmly welcomed by the people present. It was like a baptism for me, and a feeling of "liberation" came back in my heart.

Our parade ended at about four in the afternoon, and I rode back to the National People's Congress. Not far from the Fuxingmen flyover, I saw a parade across the road, slowly heading towards Tiananmen Square. This is a bicycle team. There are two people in each car, one is pedaling, and the other is sitting on the back frame of the car with a slogan. All of them have a wide banner with various slogans on their backs. note. I saw my son across the road, he saw me too, and gestured to me with a smile. His bicycle was at the forefront of the team, and the students sitting on the back rack held high the school flag of the High School Affiliated to the National People's Congress. At that time, I had an indescribable excitement in my heart. I felt that my son had grown up, and the distance between our father and son was also getting closer. I originally wanted to ride a bike over to warn him, but their motorcade quickly passed by. . The son came home very late that day. Seeing his exhausted appearance, his mother couldn't bear to blame him. She silently prepared dinner for her son and urged him to take a hot bath. We were very upset this night. My son told us that the whole school dispatched more than 1,000 bicycles for this parade, and more than 2,000 people participated. He said that their team set off after school. I couldn't ride forward, so I put my bicycle on the side of the road, reorganized the team, and walked to Tiananmen Square. He said that when their team arrived at the square, they could no longer get in, so they had to circle around the square for a week. When they returned to Fuxingmen, the roads there were also blocked. They cycled around the eastern suburbs and the north. Suburban only returned to his school. He told us that on the way back, a lesbian left behind, and he asked her to sit on the front frame of his bicycle, so there were three people in one car, and he was unable to move when he returned to school. .

It was later learned that this was the first time that middle school students in Beijing had come to Tiananmen Square to support the hunger strikers. Later, we also learned from his companions that the parade was initiated by several students in their class, and he was one of them, so he and those students always walked at the front of the line. It's been twelve years since my son left us, and we've kept pictures of his parade. In one of the photos, a large banner was pulled up in the front row of the team, which read: "You are down, and there are us!" Black characters on a white background are particularly eye-catching. This precious shot that gives us fond memories was secretly filmed by a female classmate who participated in the parade. When I was in elementary school, my son was in the same class as the female classmate. After my son died, she gave us the photographic negatives. This is our lifelong gratitude to her because this is the last photo of my son before he died.

In those days, the situation in Beijing was grim but also encouraging, the people showed their strength and the government fell into a passive state. Therefore, many people are optimistic that as long as the movement persists for a while, the government may make concessions. However, unexpectedly, on May 19, the situation suddenly changed, and people's optimism was swept away. That afternoon, some people were already running around in panic, telling them that the government was going to martial law, and that the People's Liberation Army had already moved to the suburbs of Beijing. As a result, the city of Beijing, which was boiling a few days ago, suddenly fell silent. From the university campus, to the residential quarters, and even the remote streets and alleys, there was a panic and panic before the disaster. The next day, on May 20th, people finally waited for the martial law order issued by Premier Li Peng of the State Council. information. The student and popular protest movement, which lasted for more than a month, is facing a critical juncture that may be suppressed at any time.

Since then, the situation of the movement has taken a turn for the worse, and the number of students in the square has been decreasing day by day. Except for a small number of students (many of whom are students from other places) who changed from hunger strikes to sit-ins and continued to stand in Tiananmen Square, more students came back one after another. After arriving at their respective schools, they even left Beijing and returned to their hometown in other places. At that time, what was in front of people was no longer a dialogue between government students, nor how long the student movement could last, but the safety of the entire Tiananmen Square and the safety of Beijing as a whole. However, at this very critical time, the people of the capital were not deterred by the sudden white terror. A vigorous student movement gradually subsided, but a magnificent national resistance movement began. This resistance movement kicked off with the brave act of millions of people in Beijing blocking military vehicles.

This is still unforgettable to all those who have experienced those days. During the days and nights from May 20th to June 3rd, as soon as people heard that an army had entered the city, thousands of ordinary people would immediately rushed to the scene of the accident. They are suburban peasants with an earthy smell and urban workers who have not had time to take off their work clothes. They are bloody youths from all walks of life, full of justice, men or women, and some of them have just retreated from the square. of college students and middle school students, the most touching thing is that people will also find that there are some old people with gray hair in this crowd. He (she) could have spent their old age at home surrounded by their children of. Now, all these people are brought together. They don't want conflict with the military, much less violence against violence. They had nothing in their hands, and only used their own bodies to block the march of the martial law troops. For this reason, some old women were so anxious that they were lying on the road, or kneeling and begging to the soldiers, because in their minds, even at such a moment, the People's Liberation Army was still their "child soldiers".

During this period, our son was most worried about the safety of the students in the square. He had carried us to Tiananmen Square alone in the middle of the night many times to help the student pickets to maintain the order of the square. Every time he took the first bus in the early morning. The car rushes back to school. At that time, the student self-government organization of our school set up a radio station at the school gate. Thousands of people gathered there every night to listen to the news about the pro-democracy movement, and the traffic on the road was often blocked. When he was present, he always tied his beloved red cloth to his forehead, acting as a voluntary picket. Once it was very late, I was worried that he was alone, and waited for a whole night on the side of the road not far from him.

He also expressed to us many times that he was going to participate in the operation of intercepting military vehicles, but we were all dissuaded. But finally one night, he rode our unprepared bike to Liuliqiao in the southwestern suburbs, and didn't go home until the next morning. As soon as he entered the house, he told us excitedly that it was the PLA soldiers who had been deceived. He said that he made friends with a little soldier, and told the little soldier the reason for the hunger strike of college students, and the little soldier quietly told him that he didn’t know what he was doing. Anyway, each person was given a business trip allowance of 90 yuan. I didn’t read the newspaper or listen to the radio along the way—now I was besieged on the spot and had nothing to eat or drink. That night, my son passed on the bread, soda, etc. that the people gave him to the little soldier, but he himself used his body With only two yuan, I bought two sets of pancakes from individual vendors to satisfy my hunger.

Days and days of this disturbing day passed, and finally, on the night of June 3rd, gunshots rang out over the capital of the Republic, a massacre that shocked the world began, and my son Jiang Jielian , An underage middle school student actually became the first group of victims of this massacre, with his deep love for this land and his longing for the future, he fell in a pool of blood at the head of the Muxidi bridge. middle.

Thirteen years have passed since the "June 4th" massacre. I can't do anything for the deceased. I would like to express my condolences to my death.

Go son, condolences to all those who fell in this massacre!

April 20, 2002