China: Blogger suggests temperance, accused of brown-nosing

Cultural commentator Yu Qiuyu has written a post to his blog offering some suggestions to angry parents of children who died in the thousands of school buildings which collapsed in the earthquake, many of whom are now being forcibly prevented from both mourning and denied legal recourse by courts.

Roland Soong at ESWN has translated Yu's post in which the two main points, that these parents should temporarily put their grievances aside and that critics of the government response should be cautious of giving foreign “anti-China forces” further reasons to point fingers, instantly infuriated several outspoken bloggers, the most outspoken of which seem to be prominent Chinese media workers who have recently spent time volunteering at the front line of the earthquake relief efforts or are from Sichuan province themselves.

Seemingly feeling that they've been accused of pushing an opportunistic agenda toward greater transparency and for anti-corruption, they in return have accused Yu of brown-nosing to Party and state authorities.

Independent blogger Daynew has gone for the latter charge:

见过无耻的,没见过这么无耻的。别人拍马屁,不过是保存领导手书的小黑板,余秋雨这个超级马屁精,如同当年的汉奸一般,挤出几滴鳄鱼眼泪,对老百姓喊到,别闹了,皇军都是为你们好。

老百姓通过正常法律诉讼来惩处一些造成房屋倒塌的学校领导和承包商,有什么不对?跟反华势力有啥关系,你还挺能联想的,那我也不妨对你写这篇文章的动机联想一二。

I've seen shameless, but I've never seen this shameless. People kiss butt, but that's to stay on the boss’ good side. Yu Qiuyu this super butt-kisser extraordinaire, like your average race traitor from back in the day, has squeezed out a few alligator tears and shouted to the people: knock it off, the imperial army still means well for you.

If people go through standard legal channels to sue as punishment those school leaders and contractors who made those collapsing schools, what's wrong with that? What does that have anything to do with anti-China forces? You know you're so good at making associations that I can't help but come to one or two of my own about the motives behind your post.

余秋雨这个马屁精的稿子根本不是想写给灾民的,而是想借这个由头向上面表功,看我多能替领导分忧。

按理来说,余秋雨名也有了,利也有了,犯不上这样。不过,以余秋雨这样的马屁精,绝不甘心只当个戏剧学院的院长,估计还想混入全国政协,弄个常委副主席干干,也好跻身党和国家领导人的圈子。

Yu Qiuyu this buttkisser extraordinaire's post isn't written for the disaster victims whatsoever. That's just the pretext he'd like to use to give praise to those up above, to show that he's stepping in for the leaders in their difficult time.

Reasonably speaking, Yu Qiuyu has the fame and fortune for there to be no need to do a thing like this. However, a butt-kisser like Yu Qiuyu could never be satisfied with just being the head of a theater academy, so I bet he's thinking about how to get onto the NPPCC, deputy chairman of the standing committee or something, and from there into Party and national leader circles.

Bullog.cn blogger Wen Yunchao questions some of the sources Yu cites, and wonders what he would find if Yu were to get off his high horse:

余秋雨说:“在全国哀悼日,一位佛学大师对我说,有十几亿人护持,这些往生者全都成了菩萨,会一直佑护中国。”

他还说:“已经有好几位国际地震专家说,地震到了七点八级,理论上一切房屋都会倒塌,除非有特殊原因,而这次四川,是八级!”

“佛学大师”是谁?让这位“佛学大师”和余秋雨一起先自我了断,咱们再给他们默上一哀,看他要成为狗屁“佛学大师”还是“菩萨”。“好几位国际地震专家”又是谁?汶川县城99%的房子都有“特殊原因”?余秋雨找来这种子虚无乌的所谓大师与专家,有何说服力?想必都是他自己吧?他在青歌赛解释COM、NET与 ORG的异同时,真替他脸红。岂止佛学与地震,连网络他都想做大师。

他又说:“你们要做的是以主人的身份使这种动人的气氛保持下去,避免横生枝节。”

在天灾人祸中哀号的“你们”,什么时候成为过“主人”?什么是“动人”的气氛?我看如果余秋雨先自绝于人民,气氛会更“动人”。

Yu Qiuyu said: “On this of national mourning, a Buddhist scholar told me that these departed ones have all become Buddhas with the blessing of 1.3 billion people, and they shall go on to protect China.”

And he says: “Several international seismologists have said that when an earthquake reaches magnitude 7.8, all buildings should collapse in theory unless there are special reasons. This time, it was a magnitude 8 in Sichuan!”

Who is this “Buddhist scholar”? Let this “Buddhist scholar” and Yu Qiuyu first do off with their own egos. We'll give them their silent salute, and then we'll see if it's a stupid-ass “Buddhist master” he wants to be, or a “Buddha”. And who are these “several international seismologists”? Did 99% of the houses in Wenchuan have “special reasons”? Yu Qiuyu pulls this so-called Master and these experts out of thin air, who was this suppose to convince? Himself, I presume. Seeing him on his TV show explaining the differences between .com, .net and .org, I had to be embarrassed for him. As if Buddhism and Seismology weren't enough, he wants to be an Internet Master too.

Then he says: “you must make sure that this atmosphere continues by acting as the host and ensuring that there are no digressions.”

When did the “you” who are wailing in the midst of a natural and man-made disaster become the “hosts”? What exactly is a “touching” atmosphere? The atmosphere will be “touching” the minute Yu Qiuyu alienates himself from society.

Chengdu-based bullog.cn blogger Song Shinan posts a comment left on another Bullog blog, written as if a response letter had been sent to Yu from one of the young earthquake victims now in heaven:

余爷爷,您好!

我是一名在地震中在您的点化下刚刚成为“菩萨”的小学生。

听说您写文章让我们的父母不要再去告状了,我也是这么想的,因为老师常常教导我们要做一个遵守纪律的好孩子。

按照您的说法,告状的事应该先放在一边,先去干抗震救灾的大事,可我还有一点不明白,惩办制造豆腐渣工程的人算不算抗震救灾的一部分?检察院的叔叔阿姨们现在是不是也应该拿起镐头和铁锹去重建家园?老师说过,每个人都应该做好自己分内的事情,小学生的任务就是好好学习,那检察院的叔叔阿姨分内的事情又是什么呢?余爷爷,我还小,有些事还想不明白,您快告诉我吧!

Grandpa Yu, hello!

I'm one of the primary school students who through your enlightenment just became “Buddha” in the earthquake.

I've heard you wrote a post telling our parents not to file lawsuits, and that's what I was thinking too. Because our teacher always taught us to be disciplined children.

According to what you've said, the idea of filing a lawsuit ought to be put aside for working toward the cause of earthquake relief. But there's still one thing I don't understand, wouldn't punishing those responsible for the ‘tofu dregs’ construction be part of earthquake relief? Does this mean the aunties and uncles at the Procuratorate will now grab pickaxes and shovels and rebuild our homes? Our teacher said that everyone should focus on doing a good job at their own work, and the job of primary school students is to study hard. So then what is the job of the Procuratorate aunties and uncles? Grandpa Yu, I'm just a kid, some things I still don't understand. Please tell me soon!

我听说过一个叫“克拉玛依”的地方,在那里发生过一次大火,领导们先走,孩子们留下。那件事情就是按照您的说法:拖到最后再办。我现在到了天堂,那里有克拉玛依的孩子,他们都问我,不知道大火的事情拖到最后,办了没有?

我还听说现在有好多盖房子的爷爷、叔叔们已经在帮助我们重建家园了,我不知道这里面有没有为我们学校盖房子的那些爷爷叔叔们,我想应该有,因为余爷爷说了,可以先不去追究他们,他们当然还会出现了。

那就太好了!余爷爷您太聪明了,您总是为我们小朋友着想,有他们平安无事地在那里盖房子,今后就会有更多的小朋友和我一样成为菩萨,我们就不会感到孤单了。谢谢您啦。

余爷爷,最后我想告诉您,天堂可好了,没有作业,没有补习,天天都充满了快乐和阳光。您那么大的本领,想来的话一定吹口仙气就能来的。

余爷爷,我好想您,我们所有的小朋友都等着您呐!

余爷爷,您快来吧!

I've heard of a place called Karamay, and there was a fire there once. The leaders left first, and the children stayed behind. Things were done in that incident just like you said: leave dealing with it until last. Now I'm in heaven, and there are many kids from Karamay here. They all ask me, dealing with the incident of the fire was left until last, has it been dealt with now?

I also heard that many house-builder grandpas and uncles are helping rebuild our homes. I don't know if any of them are the grandpas and uncles who built our schools, I guess there are, because like Grandpa Yu said, we don't need to go look for them now, they'll be back.

Which is great! Grandpa Yu is so smart, always looking out for us little kids. With them going on safe and sound to build those houses, soon there will be even more little kids becoming Buddha just like me. And we won't be lonely anymore, so thank you!

Grandpa Yu, one last think I want to tell you. Heaven is great. No homework, no evening tutors, everyday is full of happiness and sunshine. You're so skilled, if you wanted to come here all you'd have to do would be to whistle like a fairy and then you'd be here.

Grandpa, I miss you. All of us little kids are thinking about you!

Grandpa Yu, you come here soon!

Liberal commentator, which in China still means to some, depending who you ask, either right wing or reactionary, Wuyue Sanren writes on his Bullog blog:

余秋雨按耐不住自己吻疮舔痔的冲动,终于在某种政治正确的形象下跳出来了。还居然是他妈什么“含泪劝告灾民”。含你妈逼什么泪呢?充其量也就是鳄鱼的眼泪。我倒是觉得他含是含了,不过是跪在灾民的尸体上给某些人物口交。含了一嘴,跟他眼睛没啥关系。

之所以说跟他眼睛没啥关系,是说在这种情况下,还要求“你们要做的是以主人的身份使这种动人的气氛保持下去”,主人是干吗的?孩子死了都不能哭出来,也不能知道到底是为什么,甚至没有权利去问为什么,这是他妈的主人啊?我觉得这不是主人,这是高呼天恩浩荡的奴才。动人的气氛?动什么人?谁要这种气氛?在感动得你余秋雨大鼻涕横流的时候,这些人的痛苦是不是在你来说有一种审美价值?装逼也不是这么个装法吧。

在举世都尊重人权的时候,你要求这些灾民为了不给国家丢面子而忍气吞声,这是面子吗?这应该是最大的不要脸。只有价值观扭曲到跟央视新楼那样地步的人,才会觉得让老百姓忍气吞声是一种面子。只要不到这个程度,谁能说出比这个更不要脸的话来?

Yu Qiuyu couldn't hold back his urge to be seen kissing the hemorrhoids and licking the sores, and finally popped up with a certain politically correct image. Then he went as far as to fracking “tearfully plea to the disaster victims”. What fucking tears are you holding back? At best they are just crocodile tears. He's holding something in, but he's doing it as he's stooped over the corpses of the disaster victims giving certain people blow jobs. His mouth may be full, but it's got nothing to do with his eyes.

The reason I say it has nothing to do with his eyes is because of the backdrop to which he's said these things, even demanding that “you must make sure that this touching atmosphere continues by acting as the host”. Hosts? What for? Their kids are dead and they can't even cry about it, they can't even know why, and most of all, they don't even have the right to go ask why. Does that sound like a fracking host to you? They doesn't sound like a host to me, that sounds like a flunky shouting the praises of the mighty. Touching atmosphere? Touching who? Who wants this kind of atmosphere? While you're so moved, Yu Qiuyu, that your nose is running, does these people's sorrow have some sort of aesthetic value to you? You can be pretentious if you want, but this isn't the way to go about it.

At a time when human rights are respected all across the world, you ask these disaster victims to swallow their anger so as not to embarrass the nation? Is that what you call giving face? This is more like the biggest way to not give face. Only someone with values as twisted as the new CCTV tower would think making that people swallow their anger is some sort of way to give face. Could anyone say something so bald-faced unless their values were twisted to that extent?

如果说不给所谓反华势力借口,最好的方式不是把烂疮给说成艳若桃李,而是告诉别人做错了什么,以后应该怎么改正。要是以前错了,现在用更大的错误去掩盖,只能是错上加错。就是真让所谓反华势力给利用了,最多算是人家给了你一巴掌,你这么一欲盖弥彰,就有了借口让别人再给你一记耳光。这个道理真的这么难以明白么?行文到这里,我都开始强烈怀疑余秋雨这厮说这些话的目的了。按说怎么也是个大学教授,不应该这么傻逼啊?装的还是成心如此?

所以,少拿灾区老百姓的痛苦来装饰你那种政治正确的口交行为吧,不装逼会死啊?

If so-called anti-China forces can't be given a reason [to criticize China], wouldn't the best method instead be to talk about festering sores as if they were peaches and plums, and to tell people what their mistakes are and how they ought to be improved? If mistakes were make before, to cover them up now with an even bigger mistake is only to make things worse. Even if that gets used by so-called anti-China forces, at most it's just a jab. Trying to cover this up like you are only gives others an excuse to smack you again. Is this logic really so hard to understand? I've kept my words civil up until here, and now I'm going to strongly wonder whether or not Yu Qiuyu has a motive for saying things like these. Supposedly you're a university professor, so you shouldn't be so idiotic, right? Your posturing is just deliberate, no?

So, stop using the disaster victims’ suffering to decorate this politically correct oral sex behavior of yours, it won't kill you to stop will it?

On a distinctly different tone, old grievances with Yu are now coming out of the closet as well. Fresh-out-of-prison political blogger and history scholar Guo Quan has put out a lengthy rant first ripping into rather detailed factual errors he's noticed in many areas of Yu's academic work, and then in response to criticisms Yu once made several years ago regarding Guo's activism toward traditional Han clothing revival, calling it fashion terrorism, among other things. Others such as humorist Wang Xiaofeng have tried to spin jokes out of the whole situation, repeated in part by at least one journalist blogger, Wang Xiaoshan, whose response was to highlight the Freudian tendencies inherent in men's morality blogging.

15 comments

  • Kai

    Good stuff. Hopefully, this will help many foreigners understand that not all Chinese are mindlessly brainwashed to swallow whatever the government feeds them. One can simultaneously criticize their own country, be offended by outsiders criticizing their own country, and love their country. All are understandable responses and not mutually exclusive. These are exciting times and I can only hope that the plurality of opinion and the relative freedom to express and discuss these opinions will continue on.

  • anonymous

    Well,I saw his bog yesterday and read the comments below.There are 84 pages of comments when I read it and not all of them were comments like you listed above.I have to say,if you don’t care, that you listed some most drastic ones. Some people agreed him and some critisize him but in a more mild way. Why didn’t you list one of them as they represent a kind of voice?

  • Mr. Yu is right on the spot. there are anti-china forces . And there objectives aren’t just bringing democratic principle, like improve anti-corruption and greater transparency, but also, to undermine the CPC gov’t.

  • Kai

    @ anonymous:

    The extreme stuff makes for more interesting reading.

    @ john:

    Yes, there are anti-China forces seeking to undermine the CCP government, and one of Mr. Yu’s arguments was that normal Chinese people holding the CCP government responsible or seeking redress for the failures of the CCP government to protect and serve the normal Chinese people causes problems for the CCP government. Mr. Yu is asking these people to not complain, to not be sad, to not be angry, to not do anything whatsoever because it is against the interests of the leadership. On one hand, this does provide less ammunition to anti-China forces. On the other hand, it is a bit ridiculous. To avoid undermining the CCP government, should the CCP government undermine the Chinese people?

  • @anonymous
    I didn’t translate any comments from Yu’s blog, sorry for the confusion.

  • eugene

    i’m sick of this nonsense, chinese people rise up in revolution! the tens of thousands of innocent children who were taken from their families, all because of corruption and greed,demand retribution party from criminals!

  • Sonagi

    Loved reading all those scathingly sarcastic retorts to Uncle Tom, er, Uncle Yu.

  • Ben

    Pity those who have suffered and/or died. Pity those who cannot think for themselves. Pity the Chinese people.

  • Kai

    @ Ben:

    I don’t think “Pity the Chinese people” was necessary whatsoever. If anything, this post clearly demonstrates that many Chinese people are fully capable of thinking for themselves and for those who have suffered and/or died. This is a fantastic example of the plurality of opinion and thought within China and the Chinese people, especially when people (perhaps such as yourself) are often content to dismiss all Chinese as being brainwashed masses. If anything, pity those who still harbor such ignorant and misinformed opinions, and pity those who feel compelled to express them.

  • […] Blogger suggests temperance, accused of brown-nosing: Yu Qiuyu blogs that the western media is showing its anti-China stance by reporting on complaints about the earthquake while the rescue effort is ongoing (translated by ESWN). At Global Voices Online, John Kennedy translates some online reactions: I’ve seen shameless, but I’ve never seen this shameless. People kiss butt, but that’s to stay on the boss’ good side. Yu Qiuyu this super butt-kisser extraordinaire, like your average race traitor from back in the day, has squeezed out a few alligator tears and shouted to the people: knock it off, the imperial army still means well for you. […]

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