My Visit to Chen Guangcheng

Murong Xuecun Translated by Cathy song

The blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng has been placed under house arrest after highlighting official abuses. The novelist Murong Xuecun, one of many supporters to attempt to visit him, describes his brutal experiences along the way

“Some people say that Chen Guangcheng's encounter with the government is our own encounter with the government, so to visit him is to visit ourselves, our better selves. But at the time, I couldn't decide whether or not I wanted to go see him. I had my worries. I made my own petty calculations. I didn't want my books to get banned. I didn't want to become a "sensitive topic". I'd been invited to lecture in several countries. Most importantly, I was scared. I'm scared of pain, scared of getting beaten, scared of losing my freedom. Some people might feel that I'm being dramatic. It's just paying someone a visit, right? That's a normal person's normal logic. But in this abnormal world, the spectacle of visiting one's friend is indeed this dramatic. I don't want to make excuses for my weakness. I live in this kind of world and I carry with me the deep knowledge that freedom is precious, even if it's a hopeless kind of freedom, the kind that exists only through cracks. Once I told a story I called "The Prisoner and the Bone". A prisoner on death row is thrown a bone, and is willing to kneel on the ground with that bone until he dies. I was that prisoner, kneeling on the ground and licking that bone. For a little fame, some benefits, a little protection.”

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