Xu Zhangrun & China’s Former People

Xu Zhangrun vs. Tsinghua University   Former People, Бывшие люди (Byvshiye lyudi), is the title of a novella by Maxim Gorky published in 1897. Known in English translation as Creatures That Once Were Men, Gorky’s story would inspire the Bolsheviks to employ the term ‘Former People’ when speaking about survivors of the defunct ancien regime.… Read

無可奈何 — So It Goes

Xu Zhangrun vs. Tsinghua University   The work of Professor Xu Zhangrun has featured in the virtual pages of China Heritage since August 2018. We were preparing to publish Professor Xu’s latest essay, one that he was writing to commemorate his famous Jeremiad —  ‘Imminent Fears, Immediate Hopes’ 我們當下的恐懼與期待 — but have been prevented from doing so as the author was detained by the authorities on the morning of Monday 6 July 2020.… Read

Thoughts on 1 July 2020

The Best China   On 1 July 2020, Liu Shuyong (劉樹勇, 1962-), a Beijing-based artist known by the nom de plume Lao Shu 老樹, published the following eloquent meditation. We offer it here as a chapter in two interrelated series produced by China Heritage: ‘The Best China’ and ‘Viral Alarm’.… Read

In Memoriam — Shrouds of Ice on a River Incarnadine

Viral Alarm *** *** In early February 2020, Professor Xu Zhangrun published an excoriating essay about China’s mishandling of the coronavirus epidemic in Wuhan. Building on a series of searing analyses written from 2016, Xu’s essay ‘When Fury Overcomes Fear’ offered a further critique of the political crisis of the Xi Jinping era.… Read

The Mandela Effect — The Unquiet End of Hong Kong Headliner

Viral Alarm & The Best China On 19 May 2020, Radio Television Hong Kong 香港電台, the city’s public broadcaster announced that the popular satirical political skit show Headliner 頭條新聞 would go into ‘temporary recess’ after having been officially reprimanded for mocking the police in an episode featuring the actor (and former policeman) Wong Hei (王喜, 1967-) broadcast on 14 February 2020.… Read