Xi Jinping’s Heroes (1): the Blood of countless Martyrs

Every once in a while, a topic or text looks too big (or too much of a tasteless nuisance) to me to be processed in a blog, although I still want to translate it. When it’s too much in one go, I might opt for a serial.

Update, Dec 12, 2020: Part 2 is there.

This blog is meant to be more than just a public waste book, but it certainly fulfills a waste book’s tasks, too, and helps to tidy up my mind.

The following are excerpts from an article published by “People’s Daily” (the CPC’s central party organ), and republished, probably among many others, by “The Paper” (澎湃新闻), Shanghai.

Note the frequent references to movies – Xi Jinping (or his advisors, or both) appear to have been impressed by Ronald Reagan’s use of cinema, or cinema-worty, propaganda during the 1980s.¹⁾

Main Link: “The Secretary General has talked about Heroes like these”, by Wen Hongyan and Song Jingsi, published on Sept 29
Links within blockquotes added during translation.

Jiangxi inspection tour 2019, background left:
Red Army Long March Starting Point Monument,
Yudu County

“A nation with hope cannot be without heroes, a country cannot be without pioneers.”
“一个有希望的民族不能没有英雄，一个有前途的国家不能没有先锋。”

Ever since the 18th National Congress, Secretary General Xi Jinping has attached great importance to praising heroic models, carrying forward the heroic spirit, looking for heroes, commemorated the heroes’ footprints north and south of the Yangtse River, told moving stories about heroes on many occasions, expressed his veneration for heroes, called on the whole party and the whole country to hold the heroes in high esteem, to defend them, to learn about them, and to show concern and care for them. The Secretary General emphasized: only high esteem for heroes can bring about heroes, and only the strife to become heroes can make heroes come forth in large numbers.
党的十八大以来，习近平总书记高度重视褒奖英雄模范、弘扬英雄精神，踏寻英雄、缅怀英烈的足迹遍布大江南北，在多个场合讲述英雄感人故事，表达对英雄的崇敬之情，号召全党全国崇尚英雄、捍卫英雄、学习英雄、关爱英雄。总书记强调：“崇尚英雄才会产生英雄，争做英雄才能英雄辈出。”

[…..]

Never to be forgotten
永志不忘——

“The republic is red, and can’t weaken this color. The blood of countless martyrs gave our flag its color. There is no way that we would not build the republic well that they hoped, fought and sacrificed for.”
“共和国是红色的，不能淡化这个颜色。无数的先烈鲜血染红了我们的旗帜，我们不建设好他们所盼望向往、为之奋斗、为之牺牲的共和国，是绝对不行的。”

On the median of Tian An Men Square, the Monument to the People’s Heroes stands tall and towering.
On November 29, 2012, not long after the party’s 18th national congress, Secretary General Xi Jinping entered the National Museum east of the Monument to the People’s Heroes, visiting the “Road to National Rejuvenation” exhibit. The Secretary General pointed out: “During modernity²⁾, the scale to which the Chinese nation has suffered and made sacrifices is something rarely seen in the history of the world.
天安门广场的南北中轴线上，人民英雄纪念碑巍然耸立。
2012年11月29日，党的十八大闭幕不久，习近平总书记走进人民英雄纪念碑东侧的国家博物馆，参观《复兴之路》展览。总书记指出：“近代以后，中华民族遭受的苦难之重、付出的牺牲之大，在世界历史上都是罕见的。”

The October revolution’s momentous events gave China Marxism-Leninism. Marxism-Leninism’s dissemination in China advanced the great awakening of the Chinese people, drove the birth of the Communist Party of China, and ignited the light of the Chinese nation’s rejuvenation.
十月革命一声炮响，给中国送来了马克思列宁主义。马克思列宁主义在中国的传播，促进了中国人民的伟大觉醒，催生了中国共产党，点亮了中华民族的复兴之光。

“China surely has an admirably bright future.” During that grim era, Fang Zhimin and countless other people all had lofty ideals, with their hearts full of hope and expectations.
“中国一定有个可赞美的光明前途。”在那个风雨如晦的年代，方志敏等无数仁人志士都如此满心期待、满怀憧憬。

[…..]

On May 22, 2019, Secretary General Xi Jinping, while ending an inspection tour in Jiangxi, pointed out: “‘The enemy can only chop off our heads, but he can’t shake our faith’ – this was Comrade Fang Zhimin’s resounding promise before sacrificing his life.”
2019年5月22日，习近平总书记在江西考察工作结束时的重要讲话中指出：“‘敌人只能砍下我们的头颅，决不能动摇我们的信仰’，这是方志敏同志牺牲前留下的铮铮誓言。”

“The light of ideals can’t be extinguished, and the light of faith can’t be extinguished.” Secretary General Xi Jinping told many moving stories about the revolutionary martyrs’ selfless pursuit of the light of ideals, and how they gave their lives to protect the revolutionary faith.
“理想之光不灭，信念之光不灭。”习近平总书记曾在不同场合讲述许多革命先烈忘我追寻理想之光、舍身保护信仰火种的感人故事。

“Before martyr Liu Renkan was killed for the righteous cause, the enemy mercilessly cut off his tongue. Still, he used his foot and his spilling blood to write ‘Long live the revolution’.”
“刘仁堪烈士在就义前，敌人残忍地割下了他的舌头，他仍然用脚蘸着流下的鲜血写下‘革命成功万岁’。”

“Martyr Jiang Shanzhong left a letter behind, written with his own blood, ‘Death to the underworld will not turn back water, and protect the Communist Party for thousands of years’.”³⁾
“江善忠烈士留下血书，‘死到阴间不反水，保护共产党万万年’。”

“Xia Minghan went to prison, faithful and unchanging. In a letter to his wife, he sent the heroic oath of ‘persist in our aspirations, vow to spread the truth to the earthly world’.”
“夏明翰身陷牢狱坚贞不屈，在给妻子的家书中发出‘坚持革命继吾志，誓将真理传人寰’的豪迈誓言。”

“In the Battle of Xiangjiang River, martyr Chen Shuxiang‘s feats, ‘heartbreakingly showing his sincere convictions’, touch people, it really is ‘a thousand drops of blood from the Red Army on every inch of the ground, and an honorable hero’s body on every step’.”
“在湘江战役中，陈树湘烈士‘断肠明志’的事迹十分感人，真是‘寸土千滴红军血，一步一尊英雄躯’。”

Continued there.
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Notes

Stuff like this:

1)	1/11/84 Lars‑Erik Nelson suggests another source for the Medal of Honor story: an apocryphal item in the April 1944 issue of Reader’s Digest, a magazine known to be a life‑long Reagan favorite. “The bomber had been almost ripped apart by German cannon,” it read. “The ball turret gunner was badly wounded and stuck in the blister on the underside of the fuselage. Crewmen worked frantically to extricate the youngster, but there was nothing they could do. They began to jump. The terror‑stricken lad screamed in fear as he saw what was happening. The last man to jump heard the remaining crewman, a gunner, say, ‘Take it easy, kid. We’ll take this ride together.’”
2)	Seems this could be translated as after modernity, but that wouldn’t make sense to me because 近代 – among Chinese, and not among Americans or Taiwanese – usually refers to the times from around 1912 and 1949. Among the latter, it would be from the late Ming dynasty to 1912 (according to Wikipedia as of Oct 20).
3)	Not necessarily a correct translation; found online, on a site full of commercials and reroutings

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Nobel Lecture in Literature: Mo Yan

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Script in English »
Script in Chinese »

Gangnam Style in Recent History

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Some 40 years ago.

(click picture for video)

The real revolutionary opera is here. It’s become a popular target for all kinds of re-mixes online, even before the gangnam hype.

Bo Xilai planned the Third World War

OK, maybe not. But he (or Wang Lijun, or whoever) wiretapped everyone, up to the collective leader Hu Jintao himself, “nearly half a dozen” (i. e. 5.9, I guess?) CCP officials people with party ties claim, as quoted by the New York Times. And the British government is soooo happy that the rule of law applies in China, and that the Heywood case is re-investigated. OK, not quite that, either – he welcomes Neil Heywood death investigation.

My theory is that Bo Xilai shagged Sarah Palin, conspired with the Nazis on the dark side of the moon, and that they will soon abduct him so that he can’t reveal their schemes.

We will never see Bo Xilai again. That’s almost for sure.

Update - Update - Update: JR Intelligence Unit spotted Bo in Syria in what appears to be an extraordinary rendition arrangement between Beijing and Damascus.

Cultural Revolutions, Great and Small

March 2012 in China was a month of power struggles – that can be safely said, because one member of the polit bureau, Bo Xilai, fell from power.

Then there was chief state councillor Wen Jiabao‘s press conference, on March 14. His remark that a historic tragedy like the cultural revolution could occur again, and that reform was therefore an urgent task, can be interpreted as anything from a call for far-reaching liberalization, to just a handful of technicalities.

According to Sinostand,

If the economy slows or abruptly halts, then the void will have to be filled somehow. That could be done through political reforms that give direct accountability to the people, or some kind of scapegoat could be used to consolidate angst in a direction away from the government. I suspect Wen Jiabao’s calls for the former are in hopes of avoiding the latter.

John Garnaut listened to Hu Dehua‘s family history. Hu Dehua is the third and youngest son of former party chairman Hu Yaobang, a reformer who was ousted by the party establishment in 1987, and died in 1989.

Garnaut mainly recorded Hu Dehua’s story, apparently. It was published by Foreign Policy, on Thursday. At times, it doesn’t seem easy to tell what is Hu’s account, and where Garnaut may be drawing either on Hu’s story, or on sources he had previously known. But Hu Dehua himself is quoted with a statement which corresponds with Sinostand’s interpretation of Wen Jiabao’s mention the Cultural Revolution.

Hu Dehua told his father how pessimistic he felt about his country’s future. Hu Yaobang agreed that the methods and ideologies of the 1987 anti-liberalization movement came straight from the Cultural Revolution. But he told his son to gain some historical perspective^*), and reminded him that Chinese people were not joining in the elite power games as they had 20 years before. He called the anti-liberalization campaign a “medium-sized cultural revolution” and warned that a small cultural revolution would no doubt follow, Hu Dehua told me.

Hu Yaobang also told his son that as society developed, the middle and little cultural revolutions would gradually fade from history’s stage.

If Wen Jiabao’s reference to the Cultural Revolution wasn’t mainly meant to be merely a punch into Bo Xilai’s face – which is quite possible, too -, China’s chief state councillor doesn’t seem to believe that such a degree of societal development which would make middle and little cultural revolutions disappear has yet been reached, and he wouldn’t even rule out another big one.

But while Garnaut’s Foreign-Policy article is definitely a scoop, and while one can be pretty sure that Hu Dehua didn’t simply talk with a foreign correspondent because he felt like it, one shouldn’t think of Hu’s or Garnaut’s account as something carved in stone, either.

Hu Yaobang was largely airbrushed from official history after his purge in 1987. But because he did not publicly challenge the Communist Party, he maintained his legacy and his supporters, including all of the current and likely future party chiefs and premiers: Hu Jintao, Wen Jiabao, Xi Jinping, and Li Keqiang. All four regularly visit the Hu family home during Spring Festival. But only Wen Jiabao has publicly honored his mentor’s legacy.

The picture chosen from the Hu Yaobang family photo collection shows Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao standing next to Hu Yaobang, and it supports the message of the paragraph quoted above. But when a man is the CCP’s chairman and secretary general, where else would aspiring cadres want to stand?

I have no great doubts that the feelings of both Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao towards Hu Yaobang and his family remained friendly indeed. Wen Jiabao or one of his top officials aren’t unlikely authorizers of Hu Dehua’s meeting with  Garnaut. But that doesn’t mean that Hu Jintao or Wen Jiabao would need to see eye to eye with Hu Yaobang or Hu Dehua, on matters of liberalization. Having seen former Nazi and Communist foot soldiers sitting next to each other and having a beer in West Germany’s 1970s, I seem to understand that no matter how deep political and ideological differences may run, human feelings or even friendship may outlast totalitarianism – if those who retain some human feelings, no matter how low life may get, survive the ideologies at work.

Bo Xilai is out. If he will actually be tried – for alleged corruption, or for offense against party discipline, or whatever, will be a different question. It has been suggested that his adversaries, i. e., apparently, most of the top party leaders,  may shy away from bringing him to trial, because this would deepen the public impression that the party leadership may not be united.

But another explanation would be a fear that such a trial, too, could amount to a little or middle cultural revolution, and could even lead to a big one in the end.
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Note

^*) Wang Meng (王蒙), a Chinese writer and former politician, describes similar discussions between a cadre and his son, in the late days of the Cultural Revolution, in The Butterfly (1983, partly auto-biographical). The father’s attitude in Wang’s novel is becoming more liberal, but a gulf remains between the ways the cadre and his son see their country, as the son’s lesson drawn from the Cultural Revolution is to distrust the state as a matter of principle.

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Related

» No World Outside, March 28, 2012

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Phrasebook: zhū bā jiè dào dǎ yī pá

猪 八 戒 倒 打 一 耙。

Zhū Bājiè dào dǎ yī pá

猪: pig 八戒: eight buddhist precepts 倒打: to beat / strike back 耙: a rake (here: a Nine-Tooth Spike-Rake (九齒釘耙, Jiǔ chǐ dīngpá)

To shift the blame / ones own guilt or responsibility on to the accusant.
To make a baseless counter-allegation or recrimination.

While Sun Wukong (孫悟空), one of the three disciples to Xuanzang, is an amiable character in The Journey to the West (西遊記), Zhu Bajie (猪八戒), another disciple, is too driven by his basic instincts to be likable. When Zhu Bajie is waving his nine-toothed rake around for a fight (dào dǎ yī pá), his motives may not be as noble as pretended.

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Previous Phrasebook Entry: qián néng bǎipíng yīqiè, May 25, 2010

Cao Nima and the Smurfatar

http://smurfswillbefree.wordpress.com/2010/03/28/smurf-emancipation-day-2-smurfatar/

This story tells how Mr Cao used the Smurfatar machine to enter the real world »

A (fictional) Obituary: Johnny Neihu

Taipei — No quantity of Changshou (long life) cigarettes could stabilize the old man’s feelings anymore. If we can believe the Taipei Times, the paper which hosted his regular splittist columns, Johnny Neihu has left this vale of tears after scaring a Sichuan Province Engineering Safety Division, CCP Cadre Delegation (inspecting a patriotic statue in Taiwan’s capital)  shitless with a bloody auto-mutliation reading “ECFA”, and by blowing himself and the statue up as an ultimate statement. An unspecified number of lives was – reportedly – lost in the process.

His zougou running dog 走狗 anyway, dog, Punkspleen, relates to the cruel event as Mr Neihu’s finest hour. Just as the hero of the splittists used to say, or kind of said:

Don’t ask what your renegade province can do for you – ask what you can do for your renegade province.

We should have been warned. May he rest in peace.