Can the community transcend "same breath and common destiny"? Can mourning transcend space? Written in six four three two

imagined community

Last year, I was interviewed by Xu Mingen of "Block Situation" on "Blockchain Sociology " . The first question at the beginning was: "What is sociology?"

Saying "actually" is because sociology seems to me to take for granted, just like if you are a chef, you probably wouldn't expect the interviewer to ask you what cooking is. But after thinking about it for two seconds, I felt normal. "Block Situation" is dedicated to discussing blockchain. Ming En is a science and engineering student. Obviously, I "made my own opinion" to link blockchain and sociology, and information technology and social science. .

After a little hesitation, I began to think about how to explain it. After all, the more general a word is, the more difficult it is to explain. For example, if your child asks you what the words "money" ^[1] and "country" that you hear every day mean, maybe you will be like me, like me, like a big enemy, and sweating. I don’t remember the specific words, but I think that sociology is the study of how society works, the relationship between people and the “community” and so on.

The types and themes of my writing are quite complicated. If I had to categorize them, it would be a popular science, I guess. Therefore, I am very particular about the words I use, and avoid using academically derived words, that is, words that are not heard in tea restaurants in daily life. However, I often use "community" and rarely use "community" which also means "community". No, I also use "community" often, but in a context that doesn't emphasize what this group of people has in common.

I use the word "community" which is "off the ground" because I like that it emphasizes the element of "common" relative to "community". In fact, before the Internet or even digital technology, a "community" simply referred to a group of people living in the same place, no matter how broad or narrow that place was. Because of the needs of life, this group of people generally communicate in the same language and trade in the same currency, but they do not necessarily have strong other interactions and very close values. Probably for this reason, sociologist Benedict Anderson understands countries and nations as imaginary communities, "Imagined Community".

Think about how today's regime spends unlimited resources to talk to the local people and even the whole world, saying that they have been a country since ancient times, and you can probably feel the sociological theoretical framework of Imagined Community, how much it describes it. I think the only reason Imagined Community isn't banned is because not many people read it.

Hong Kong people

Once in Taipei, I had lunch with another young man besides Ming En who cared about Hong Kong, and he asked, "Now that so many Hong Kong people have immigrated and drifted to all corners of the world, you will worry that they no longer see themselves as Hong Kong. people?"

I didn't hesitate this time, the question was simple: no. Hong Kong people call themselves Hong Kong people wherever they go.

However, I am worried, or not worried but very concerned, when these people living around the world call themselves Hong Kong people, what does the word "Hong Kong people" mean? Cantonese? But Hong Kong also has many people who speak Hakka, Hokkien and English, and one of Hong Kong's important values happens to be multilingualism. Yellow skin and black hair? This is too out and too broad, right? Born in Hong Kong? Liang Tianqi is neither. Frozen lemon tea, hot milk tea, egg tarts, car noodles? Honestly, I think this less serious answer is at least more reliable than the above.

Just like Brokeback Mountain, everyone has a definition of "Hong Kong people" in their minds.

beyond pain

In 2019, in an exclusive interview with Leung Ji-ping by He Guilan of Stand News, Leung said that "what really connects Hong Kong people is pain beyond language and values." I admire Alan very much, and I admire Liang Jiping very much, but I think this answer is not enough.

Perhaps, as a description of the situation in Hong Kong from 2014 to 2019, it is a good generalization. After all, all those who support democracy, from He Lifei to the Dragon Slayer, from the Greater China faction to the independence faction, are all very painful, so they are no longer divided. Now, the great reconciliation is over, at least there is no time for scolding for the time being.

we connect, by pain.

However, the lack of this answer lies in the fact that if one day the struggle really blossoms, democracy results, universal suffrage is achieved, and siblings come out, we will no longer suffer. At that time, what will Hong Kong people rely on to connect?

It is like the statement "Hong Kong is not China", which strongly expresses a message that Hong Kong is "not what", but does not say what "Hong Kong is" at all. Hong Kong is not "no". I am reminded of the description of the fourth generation of Hong Kong people in Lu Dale's " Four Generations of Hong Kong People ": I am very clear about what I don't want to do, but I am not sure what I want to do.

Hong Kong people come from all over the world, and they have just had a generation that is mainly born and raised in the local area. They will "decentralize" again, and once again live in the wider world. We still call ourselves "Hong Kong people" and care about the well-being of this place, but we cannot ignore that after immigrating, we also have another responsibility for the place we live in, and our next generation may not necessarily share and share us sentiment towards Hong Kong. As Lu Dale wrote, the first and second generations of Hong Kong people mainly fled from mainland China; their children, the third and fourth generations of Hong Kong people, may not necessarily have such a strong commitment to building China. If the Hong Kong people who immigrate and leave Hong Kong now have the subjective wish that their children must understand Cantonese and have feelings for Hong Kong, I am afraid that they must first ask themselves whether they understand the language of their "hometown", whether they care about the local "democratic process", or even "return to Hong Kong." "Have you been there.

June Fourth rally

Two years ago today, it was Taipei again. After I introduced LikeCoin in the demo day of AppWorks , the moderator Lupai asked the founders from other places what they liked the most about Taiwan.

Of course I seem to be taking the answer too seriously: democracy, freedom. It was 64.30 that day, and I, who was already paralyzed, lacked a sense of humor even more than usual. Besides, when I was in Taiwan, I often felt that the generation born after the lifting of the martial law regarded democracy and freedom as a necessity and lacked "dried mango". Come on, that's actually not so natural.

At the summary and review meeting after the demo day, I chatted with my colleagues at AppWorks again. I wasn’t complaining, but I expressed that it was embarrassing that I couldn’t go back to Hong Kong that day for the demo day. I thought about whether to give up the opportunity. I said, you may not feel anything, but if I have a big event on 2.28, maybe you will feel something is wrong. AppWorks colleagues still seem a little strange, is it so rare to attend the 6.4 year anniversary party.

Then, one year later, the 6.4 rally was issued a notice of objection by the police. Huang Zhifeng, Cen Aohui, Yuan Jiawei and Liang Kaiqing were sentenced to 4 to 10 months in prison, although I did not pass because of the sponsor's call at all, even though the rally that day was 100% peaceful, reasonable, and unreasonable.

Then, today, two years later, Zou Xingtong, the vice chairman of the stake, was arrested ahead of schedule, the entire Victoria Park was sealed off, and 3,000 police officers were assembled inside. Ironically, the Victoria Park mourning became the patent of the police.

However, does the mourning have to be in the same place? Will sealing off the entire Victoria Park, or all public spaces, prevent the formation of shared memories?

share the same fate

Back to the topic at the beginning, community.

"Same breath, common destiny", Zhenya is the most vivid description of the community. Even better, this sentence was born when pneumonia spread, we breathe the same source of air, and of course face the same fate.

However, just as Alan often sends everyone to broaden their imaginations about sports, victims, and everything, I also advocate a more open imagination for the interpretation of the community, otherwise when Hong Kong people are scattered all over the world, they will no longer "same the same". Breathing”, or no longer suffering, or at least having adapted to suffering, it is difficult to say that the construction of a community cannot be maintained even if it is maintained. I am afraid that it will only become a symbol of unknown specific meaning as the years go by.

Everyone needs to breathe, but everyone does more than breathe. Everyone has a life in the physical world, but in modern times, everyone also has a share, or even multiple copies, of a life in the digital world. If the mourning is not necessarily in a physical location, we have reason to believe that the construction of the community is not necessarily based on a piece of land.

#decentralizehk

Forgive me for raising a bunch of questions, but I didn't provide half of the answers. I have to be honest, I don't have a complete answer. And logically it shouldn't be, and it's impossible for anyone to provide a complete answer. After all, we are talking about a "community", which requires all stakeholders to "co-construct" from the bottom up, rather than someone "first-hand" from the top down. build".

However, while I don't have an answer, I have direction, at least, some fragmented, incomplete thoughts. These will be discussed in another article later. Before my ideas are mature enough to write my own answer to this article, please give me some time to practice through different methods to find this answer.

I have been following blockchain and cryptocurrencies for a long time, writing full-time, regularly publishing the #decentralizehk series every Wednesday, and sharing other occasions from time to time. My articles are all open and aimed at spreading knowledge and helping the general public achieve freedom of the press , financial freedom , and democratic freedom .

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