MCLC: stirring essay by Murong Xuecun (10,11)

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: Rowena He <rowenahe at gmail.com>
Subject: stirring essay by Murong Xuecun (10)
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Xu Ben published an excellent piece on  neo-totalitarianism in 2005. It is
like the academic version of Murong Xuecun's piece. Rowena

http://wucsh.blogchina.com/1221575.html

*中国的"新极权主义"及其末世景象** *
By徐贲


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From: Jacqueline and Martin Winter <dujuan99 at gmail.com>
Subject: stirring essay by Murong Xuecun (11)

There is another part to my comment, another blog entry. Sorry if I'm
rambling. 

http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_68d1119901017mu9.html

Or

http://erguotou.wordpress.com/2012/08/05/murong-xuecun-yu-hua-liu-zhenyun-b
ob-dylan-and-rivers-of-bablyon-8-2/
 
Martin

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I don't think Murong Xuecun exaggerates, like one commentator suggested on
the MCLC list. Yes, you could encompass many alarming, saddening,
embarrassing stories in one speech in other places than China, and people
do it all the time, naming names, practices, products. The difference is
that in China you will be silenced more swiftly and harshly. Yes, there
are exceptions.

Does Mo Yan revel in cruelty like Dan Brown? Does Yu Hua make better use
of the cruel parts in his novels? Ok, I'm an interested party, I can't
really say. Would be interesting to analyze in detail. Mo Yan's novels are
great works, at least those I have read, he has written a lot. Deep,
cathartic, even accusing use of cruel events and structures. I love Yu
Hua's tone. And I associate Liu Zhenyun in Remember 1942, and Murong
Xuecun's Sky and Autumn speech.

We had Jeremiah in church today, along with that story where a guy goes
abroad and gives his gold and silver to his servants. The ones that
receive more trade with it, and when their lord comes back, they can give
him double. The one who received very little buries it, and when the lord
comes back, he digs it out and says, I know you are a harsh governor and
reap where you haven't sown, so I was afraid to lose what you gave me, and
kept it double safe. His colleagues get to join the big party, and are
rewarded with great posts. He is cast out into the darkness, which is
filled with howling and chattering teeth. It's a horrible story. Yes, it's
a parable, and if you have very little reason for faith, you should still
risk it and try to make more, because if you bury it deep in your heart
you might lose the little trust you had and received and be cast out into
the darkness. But if you are the one who has reason to be afraid, how can
you trust your lords? The ones who have more and get more have it easy.
Even if they lose everything, they are often rewarded - those powerful
managers and functionaries. And if there are enough of those who are cast
out, and they get organized, maybe some bishops or other lords might
dangle from lamp posts. A Hussite reading, said my wife. Yeah, maybe. No
shortage of horrible stories in Chinese literature, like in the Bible.

Jeremiah is even worse, it's a much bigger story, infinitely more
horrible. And there is a detail, not in the Jeremiah parts used in church
today, but in the songs in exile. By the rivers of Babylon, where we sat
down, where we wept when remembered Zion. And in the end the singer
wishes, or the singers wish they will one day brutally kill the children
of the oppressors. That's the detail in Murong Xuecun's speech I was
thinking about. 

The calling of Jeremiah, where he says he's too young, and God says he has
to go and obey, and open his mouth, and God will put His words into his
mouth, and he will be set above nations and kingdoms, so he can pluck out
and demolish, ruin and destroy, as well as plant and build. The preacher
said she thought of parting and setting off to other posts, and how the
Marschallin in Hugo von Hofmannsthal's and Richard Strauss' Rosenkavalier
sings of what she will have to give up. What a horrible comparison! There
is nothing light in Jeremiah. There are no waltzes. Ok, Rivers of Babylon,
yes. But with Jeremiah, if you have to mention Austrian writers, Franz
Werfel would be much more apt. Werfel was Jewish and used Jeremiah, a lot.
Ok, she did mention, much too briefly, how nobody would heed Jeremiah, and
that it's actually the most terrible story.

Anyway, when I heard Jeremiah, I thought of Bob Dylan. Masters of War.
"How much do I know, to talk out of turn? You might say that I'm young;
you might say I'm unlearned. But there is one thing I know, though I'm
younger than you, it's that Jesus would never forgive what you do." [.]
"And I'll watch while you're lowered onto your deathbed, and I'll stand on
your grave and make sure that you're dead." I don't know if Dylan thought
of Nixon and Kissinger explicitly, when he wrote this song. America's
Vietnam War was raging, and I think the song came out when Nixon and
Kissinger where in power. Anyway, there is that Monty Python song about
Kissinger. Very explicit. Dylan and Monty Python would not be able to sing
these songs in China on stage today, to say nothing about what Chinese
artists can do. No, Murong Xuecun doesn't exaggerate.

x and y

x was cruel
butt is sore
y was able
and suave.

both loved culture
both destroyed
hundred million
butts are cold

MW March 2007

Yes, I thought of Mao and Nixon, and their sidekicks. But x and y could
stand for many people, and could be mentioned anywhere, at least today.
Almost anywhere, probably.Anyway, it's about smoking, you know. Littering.
Ok, enough for today.