标签：democracy

On Elitism and Esoteric Truth

Culture & Public Commentary2012.10.18
On Elitism and Esoteric Truth
Today I went to sit in on the World Congress of Chinese Philosophers, took a look at some academic celebrities whose names I had only heard before, and was greatly disappointed. I’m too lazy to go again tomorrow. That Tang Yijie was unreliable I already knew; that Chen Lai was reliable I also already knew. But I didn’t know many of the other famous figures very well. After listening to one round today, basically the only one of any interest was Chen Lai; the others, such as Lin Yusheng, sounded academically fairly sound, but the reports themselves were a little dull. As for the much-vaunted Gan Yang and Liu Xiaofeng,…
philosophy China culture media
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2012年10月18日
Disasters and Despotism

Culture & Public Commentary2012.07.26
Disasters and Despotism
A few days ago Beijing was hit by torrential rain. Unfortunately, I had just returned to Shanghai and missed this rare spectacle. Once a rainstorm turns into a disaster, there is inevitably all sorts of praise for skillful command and unity of purpose, and then a call for donations appears, something we have long since grown accustomed to. Calls for donations are of course met with a flood of abuse online, but the reality is that they will still work. Setting aside the many uninformed people who are only too happy to donate, just think of how much can be wrung out by those “progressive” Party-state organs, enterprises, and schools…
China culture politics democracy
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2012年7月26日
Youth and Politics

Culture & Public Commentary2012.07.06
Youth and Politics
Today Huanqiu Times published a good commentary, “Young Students Should Not Be Encouraged to Rush to the Front Line of Conflict,” which says: Middle school students are minors. Their minds are not yet mature enough, but they are full of enthusiasm and highly sensitive. They have few worries and little social pressure, so they fear nothing and have strong explosive force and impact. They have no clear political interests to demand, nor any stable beliefs, so they are easily pushed along by adults, either becoming an expression of the correct social psychology or being led in the wrong direction. Since the founding of New China, the most striking eruption of…
China culture commentary education
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2012年7月6日
The Left and Right, Chinese Style

Enlightenment & the Spirit of Freedom2012.05.15
The Left and Right, Chinese Style
Recently I’ve been mentioning the left and the right quite often, but always rather cautiously, always wanting to add a couple of lines: I don’t like taking sides, I only use labels because I have no choice, and so on. To keep on like that is not really a solution, so I might as well write an article and talk through my understanding of the so-called left and right. My first acquaintance with the concepts of left and right probably came in middle school political class, where the teacher explained that the left was progressive and reformist, while the right was backward and conservative. We children, brainwashed by China’s rote-learning…
China freedom tradition politics
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2012年5月15日
Do the People Have the Right to Be Ignorant? — With a Discussion of Enlightenment and Unconcealment

Enlightenment & the Spirit of Freedom2012.05.14
Do the People Have the Right to Be Ignorant? — With a Discussion of Enlightenment and Unconcealment
People have the right to stupidity—this is Tian Song’s claim: “The people have the right to stupidity; if they are deprived of the right to stupidity, they will only have the right to be made stupid. The key question is: who has the authority to draw the line between civilization and stupidity?” Back then (almost six years ago now—terrifying), I already had reservations about this, though I did not discuss it in detail. Yesterday Jing Qi raised this claim again, and recently I have also been paying attention to pedagogical questions, so this is a good moment to talk through my thoughts. First of all, Teacher Tian, including Teacher Liu,…
China science freedom education
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2012年5月14日
In Praise of “Rumors”

Culture & Public Commentary2012.04.15
In Praise of “Rumors”
Recently the word “rumor” has once again become a hot topic, and a full-scale “war” against “rumors” is plainly about to break out. At a time like this, it is all the more necessary to reflect on what “rumor” really means. On Weibo, I saw Sun Haifeng repost Deng Wenchu’s “Nine Theses on Rumor,” written several years ago, and applauded it enthusiastically (you can find it among some of the earliest posts on his blog, though it seems a few of the theses have been harmonized?). Later I read Kapferer’s Rumor: The World’s Oldest Media, and found it quite rewarding as well. So let me offer a few casual remarks…
China book reading tradition book review
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2012年4月15日
Night Reading Mencius: The Traitor Faction

Chinese Civilization & the Way of Chinese2012.03.21
Night Reading Mencius: The Traitor Faction
This article arose from the explanation in the previous post. Of course, apart from taking issue with one particular junior classmate, my more important intention is to emphasize that interpretations of the Confucian classics are plural, and the Mao left can forget about monopolizing the right to interpret the Confucian classics. When I was a freshman, under Yang Zi’s influence, I read some chapters of the Mencius. Though I have little recollection of them now, I did come away with a rough impression: even though the Mencius is not as invigorating to read as the Analects, it still felt pretty good. The night before last I dug it out and…
philosophy China culture freedom
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2012年3月21日
Democracy Against the People-as-the-Basis: A Debate on Weibo

Culture & Public Commentary2012.03.21
Democracy Against the People-as-the-Basis: A Debate on Weibo
Some days ago, I had a rather spirited debate on Weibo with a left-leaning junior fellow. I’m not very fond of slapping labels like “right-wing” and “left-wing” on people, but this argument was indeed representative in a certain sense, so I need to note this junior fellow’s left-wing background. As for me, who sparked the argument, I was not aiming my dissatisfaction specifically at him; rather, I took the opportunity to express my long-standing opposition to the rhetoric of the so-called Mao left. I once stated my personal position in the essay “Liberty vs. Equality—I Am a Right-Wing Socialist,” but that was mainly constructive rather than refutational. Still, I’m willing…
China culture freedom tradition
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2012年3月21日
Bottom-Up Reform

Culture & Public Commentary2012.02.02
Bottom-Up Reform
During the “onlookers biting Han” incident (see my previous two articles), I took the opportunity to skim through the legendary “Han Three Essays.” I have to say, Han Han really is better suited to snark than to building arguments… But on the basic attitude toward these three big concepts, I completely support Han Han: oppose revolution, be cautiously skeptical of democracy, and emphasize and fight for freedom. Why am I “anti-revolutionary”? In middle school, I did indeed hold some sort of “quality theory” position: the civic quality of the Chinese people was still far too low, there was a lack of self-discipline, and once things got chaotic they would be…
China culture freedom politics
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2012年2月2日
Politics Is Dispute—Starting from the Smoke-Free Campus

Culture & Public Commentary2011.11.03
Politics Is Dispute—Starting from the Smoke-Free Campus
I don’t know when the sign “This campus is a smoke-free school” was first hung at Peking University’s gate. I once even saw security guards seriously stop people who were coming in with cigarettes in their mouths. Today, in the midst of the poisonous haze (November 1), I noticed this sign again, so I’ll jot down a few thoughts while I’m at it~ I don’t smoke, and I don’t like other people smoking around me. But I do not support a “smoke-free campus.” In particular, a “smoke-free Peking University” is even worse. Because a smoking ban runs counter to freedom. Smoking is harmful, and it affects other people’s physical and…
China culture freedom commentary
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2011年11月3日