A blog article of Han Han

散文一篇
An essay

在昨天，我看到了一条新闻，新闻说我候选了时代周刊的两百个影响全球的人物，中国同时入选的还有敏感词，敏感词和敏感词等人。当时我正在我们村里挖笋（我挖的是自己家的），没怎么注意，后来回去一看手机上有不少的短信，问我对此事的态度，我只回复了新京报和南都的两位朋友，其他媒体写的均为凭着对我性格的猜测下的友好想象。我没有想到大家还比较关心，在这里我就做一个统一的回复。
Yesterday, I say a piece of news saying that I was nominated as one of the 200 [it’s in fact 100]most influential people in the world by Time magazine. [http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1972075_1972078_1972568,00.html]Other Chinese nominees included ‘screened word’, ‘screened word’ and ‘screened word’. I was digging bamboo shoots in our village then (and I digged my own bamboo shoots) and did not pay much attention. When I got back home, I found quite a number of text messages asking for my attitudes toward this matter. I only replied two [journalist] friends from The Beijing News and Southern Metropolis Weekly; any articles published on other media are merely friendly impressions based on their hypothesis about my characters. I did not expect such attentions from the mass public, but I’ll make an integrated response here.

首先，我非常感叹和惋惜，为什么别人有这样的新闻媒体，当时代周刊弄一个人物榜的评选的时候，能够让全世界其他的国家都起波澜。我多么渴望我们中国也能有类似的一个新闻媒体，当他评选人物的时候，在全世界也引起关注。我们不能说这样的一个媒体完全公正，但是它是有完全的公信力的，我多么渴望我们国家也有。可惜我们并没有。不是说我们的媒体人要比其他地方的媒体人差，而是因为一些……原因，这些原因众所周知，点到为止，多说必死，死后鞭尸。

First of all, I’m overwhelmed by exclamations and shames. Why could such a news media like Time magazine exist in other countries that it produces ripples in every other country all over the world when a Top People vote is initiated. I’m dying to see a similar news media in China when it starts a Top People vote, the whole world would pay attention. We cannot say such a media is absolutely impartial, but it has total public credibility. I anxiously hope that we have such a media in China, but unfortunately, we don’t. I doesn’t mean our media people are not as qualified as those in other countries. There are certain reasons, which are known to all. I’m not digging up on it here. Otherwise it’ll bring me tons of trouble.

我经常自问自己，我为这个充满着敏感词的社会做出了什么贡献，可能到最后我只贡献了一个以我的名字命名的敏感词而已。我天天睡到中午，经常浪费钱买数码产品，还挑食，但好在我也未曾给这个社会增加罪孽和负担，至少迄今为止是这样。我没有辽阔的远见，我唯独只想让相关部门善待文艺和新闻，不要给他们过多的审查以及限制，不要用政府的权利和国家名义去封杀或者污蔑任何一个文艺工作者和新闻从业者，这样的话，不用你们花大价钱，这个国家会自动生产出输出到西方世界的文艺作品和新闻媒体，我们的每一个小小的读者听众观众网民市民国民都能同享荣光。我未必有天赋和能力写出好的东西，但是别人有，但你不要阉人有[又]夸人无。

I often ask myself, what have I contributed to this society filled with ‘screened words’? Maybe ultimately just another screened word consisting of my very own name. Every single day, I sleep till noon; I often wasted money on digital products; I am a picky eater. But fortunately I haven’t brought extra sins and burdens to this society; at least it’s the case so far. I don’t have wide-scale insights; I just hope that those authorities concerned could treat literature and art and news with mercy, instead of imposing excessive censorship and restrictions on them, or forcing out or slandering any literature/art worker or media worker in the name of the government authority or the nation. If so, this country would automatically generate literary/art works and news media that would get exported to western world without the expensive nurturing from the government. And as a result, every single reader, listener, audience, netizen, city resident and citizen can share the glory. I may not necessarily be very talented and competent to write brilliant stuff, but other people are. So don’t you emasculate them and boast of their non-existence. [I cannot do the irony here]


电话里记者问我，有一些地方还说你和西方反华势力勾结，我说这个很正常，人家这招用了六十年了，前几十年还有发自内心的，后几十年纯粹是用于泼脏水了。我一个要去西方国家比赛经常因为材料不够齐而差点签证都办不出来的人，还西方势力呢，况且都什么年代了，还勾结不勾结的，这词说出去多难听啊。相信如果有哪位朋友天天监听着我的电话的话，您一定很清楚我究竟是一个怎么样的人，您说呢，电脑前一定会有一位朋友会心一笑的。但我只是奇怪，这些御用笔杆子，怎么几十年都用一个体位，他不烦，对象都烦了。但是，我坚决赞同他们的存在，因为总有正方和反方，总有甲方和乙方，如果我们国家能做到话不投机一拍两散，而不是话不投机把你封杀，那就是我们国家的巨大进步，我们也将为此而努力。

Some journalist said on the phone: some [from government authorities?] say that you are ganging up with western anti-China forces. I replied that it is pretty common. They have used this trick for sixty years. It was authentic during the first several decades; but during the last few decades, it’s purely slandering. I used to fail to get visas because of missing of certain documents when I was planning to attend car racing games in western countries; what’s with the ganging up? Besides, why are we still talking about ganging up with people during this modern age? The phrase is such an eye sore. I believe if there is a friend tapping into my phone calls on a daily base, they must know what kind of people I am, what do you think? There must be a friend smiling with understanding in front of the computer screen. But I’m just curious, those kept writers have been using one body position for decades; even though they are not fed up with it, the objects are. However, I’m totally in favor of their existence, since affirmative/negative sides and Party A/B always exist co-dependently. When under the circumstance of disagreements, if our nation is capable of tolerating them taking separating paths instead of forcing the other side out, then it’s a great step forward. We will be making great efforts on it as well.

后来他又发短信问我，那么换句话说，你这个人的观点和言论符合了西方人的价值观，你觉得是么？

Later on, he texted me again and asked: in other words, your personal opinions and statements are in accordance with western values, do you think so?
我回消息说，难道不符合中国人的价值观么？
I replied: Are they not in accordance with Chinese values?

我相信地球人和外星人也许价值观不一样，但是西方人和东方人，除了生活习惯不一样以外，价值观应该是差不多的，为何一定要争呢。

I believe that earthmen aliens may have different values, but except for life habits, western and oriental people have similar values. Why do we have to alienate us from one another?

最后说回到所谓的影响力，我经常非常的惭愧，我只是一介书生，也许我的文章让人解气，但除此以外又有什么呢，那虚无缥缈的影响力？在中国，影响力往往就是权力，那些翻云覆雨手，那些让你死，让你活，让你不死不活的人，他们才是真正有影响力的人。但是不知道是因为他们怕搜呢还是不经搜，往往在搜索引擎上还搜不到他们。我们只是站在这个舞台上被灯光照着的小人物。但是这个剧场归他们所有，他们可以随时让这个舞台落下帷幕，熄灭灯光，切断电闸，关门放狗，最后狗过天晴，一切都无迹可寻。我只是希望这些人，真正的善待自己的影响力，而我们每一个舞台上的人，甚至能有当年建造这个剧场的人，争取把四面的高墙和灯泡都慢慢拆除，当阳光洒进来的时候，那种光明，将再也没有人能摁灭。

Finally, back to the so called influence issue. I often feel ashamed. I’m just a writer. Maybe what I write is sympathetic to many readers and speaks out their rages, but what else can I do? The visionary ‘influence’ I have? In China, influences are usually realized by power. The real influential people are those almighty hands, those people who have a say on your destiny. But I’m not sure if they are afraid to be searched online or just cannot stand up to be searched online, you cannot get any results on the search engines. We are just nobodies on stage under the spotlights, but the theatre is possessed by those real influential powerful people who get to decide to drop the curtain down, shut the lights, cut the electricity, close the door and unleash the dogs at any time; then things become normal again with no traceable hints on what’s just happened. I just wish that these people would do the right thing with their influences on other people; and every single one on stage and maybe even those who helped build the theatre would be able to gradually tear down the high-standing walls and light bulbs. So when sunshine spreads in, no one can never ever crush out the brightness.