Original link: https://diff.im/blog/?p=1668
Before that, I didn’t know much about Yang Xiaokai. Occasionally, it is mentioned in the circle of friends that Yang Xiaokai is an economist who has been nominated for the Nobel Prize twice; however, I am not very interested in economics. It was not until I read Yang Xiaokai’s testimony of his belief in Christ that I began to search for information about him on the Internet. “Records of Ghosts and Snakes” is his memoir, which records his prison experience for nearly 10 years during the Cultural Revolution. Some people say that, compared with Yang Xiaokai’s economic theories and works, “The Record of Ghosts and Snakes” is more worthy of people’s reading. This is indeed a book that ordinary Chinese should read, but unfortunately, due to “technical” reasons, most Chinese people have no chance to read it. This book is a memoir, a multi-person biography, and a history book at the same time. The author’s perspective is very unique. The protagonists in the novel are all his inmates. These people are pickpockets, farmers, traders, workers and other small people in the city (there are also individual scholars/politicians). While narrating the humble life experience of these “ghosts and snake gods”, their fiery ideals, the painful prison price, and various relationships with Yang Xiaokai (friendship, betrayal…), Yang Xiaokai’s own experiences, thoughts, feelings, and That period of absurd history is naturally displayed in front of readers. Ordinary history books only record big events, only kings and generals; but this history book records all the little people, all of which are the real lives of the little people in that era, ideals and ambitions and reality despair, real struggles and struggles. Painful price, friendship and betrayal, emotions and desires in a depressive society… A sense of familiarity Yang Xiaokai, a 20-year-old high school student, was imprisoned for publishing “Where Should China Go From Here?” During his ten-year prison life from 1968 to 1978, the “Zuojiatang Detention Center” where he was detained was in Changsha, my hometown. I have been to Zuojiatang several times. I also learned from the Internet that Zuojiatang Detention Center was later renamed “Changsha No. 2 Detention Center”, and the address was actually on Yuanda Road (Broad Group), Changsha County. When I was sitting in a daze on the No. 114 bus, I often saw the gate and signboard of the Changsha No. 2 Detention Center. In addition to place names, there are also very familiar dialects, such as: Maojia Dadi (Mao Zedong’s Changsha dialect). When I was young, I heard my neighbors criticize the Mao family’s father, and I was still naive at the time; but the same remarks and contempt for the Mao family’s father appeared almost exactly the same in the mouths of Yang Xiaokai’s inmates. Sigh times have not progressed. At that time, all social strata, from peasants, pickpockets, and small businessmen, to scholars, officials, and politicians, still had ideals and aspirations, and put them into action, and silently endured the heavy burden of freedom and ideals cost. What about now? Just sigh. What I can’t help but sigh is that that organization is full of lies and evil from the very beginning and at the very root. Anger Because of the infighting and absurd ideas of those in power, millions of people have lost their most precious ten years of youth, and some have lost their lives, not to mention the huge harm brought about by those who have been accused of crimes and infamy for no reason. psychological trauma. In that era, those in high positions stirred up the ugliness, ignorance, and fear in the human nature of ordinary people, and controlled and incited them arbitrarily. Reading those “ghosts and snakes” stories is very suffocating, depressing, and angry. In the end, who are the ghosts and monsters? Desperate times have not progressed. The methods and operations of those who fooled the people and controlled speech at that time were no different from today. At that time, many people expected that when “Daddy Mao” died, everything would change, and there would be freedom and democracy. Now in 2023, many people have the same expectation. Decades have passed, and we still pin our hopes on “changing another person” as in the past two thousand years, and “changing another person” seems to be the only hope at the moment, which is really desperate. I hope it is hard for me to imagine, if I am not a Christian now, how would I face and deal with the evil, injustice, suffering, etc. under totalitarianism? If there is no God’s final judgment, if death will take everyone’s life equally, no matter whether he is a “ghost and snake spirit” who has suffered a lot, or a ghost and snake spirit who brings suffering and pain to people, that is really unfair! As a human being, as a Christian, I sincerely and ideally believe that although the world is in an imperfect, unjust and unjust state now, in the past, and even in the future, there must have been a perfect, fair and just world. Otherwise, why are the universal values still guiding people to pursue good qualities such as kindness, honesty, integrity, and love? At the same time, that perfect world will definitely come again, otherwise how absurd is life in the darkness now. — 1 John 2:17 KJV 2010 17 : The world and its lusts pass away, but he who does the will of God remains forever. Revelation 21:3-4 KJV 2010 :3 I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men! He will dwell with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. 4 God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more, neither shall mourning nor crying nor pain be anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
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