Wildfire Collection: Thirty Years Anniversary Edition

Chapter 17 After "1" ([-])
Wildfire phenomenon
Originally published in "China Times" on April 24, [-]

Re-reading this article 20 years later, I found that it was a bit unfortunate that "one word became a prophecy": "Some non-party publications, although they advertise criticism, cannot completely win over readers, because they often start from a specific ideology. Targeting a certain political structure; different ideologies, different political goals, but anti-propaganda can become propaganda, and anti-dogma can become dogma. Without a broader mind, a longer-term vision, and an insistence on rationality , the color of the blindfold has changed and it is still a blindfold."

The history 20 years later will prove it to you: Yes, when the opposition party came to power, it was really just a blindfold with a different color!
The mud in the vegetable market.The din of bargaining was interspersed with the sound of chopping knives.Next to the spinach and carrots lay a copy of Wildfires open.The woman selling vegetables squatted on the ground to peel corn.

"Obasan, are you reading this book?"

"Oh yes!" She replied cheerfully, "My younger generation is watching it! I'm in college."

tear off the blindfold

"Wild Fire Collection" was reprinted 21 times within 24 days of publication, and after four months, it has already approached fifty editions, and will soon break through the [-] mark.People in the cultural circles were astonished, saying that it was a phenomenon that had not been seen for many years.The dealer of the bookstore said that many book buyers seemed to walk into the bookstore with a "sense of mission", buying one for themselves and giving another as a gift, for fear that not enough people would read "Wildfire".A physician told me that he bought three hundred books and sent them around.School teachers also often order collectively for students as designated extracurricular readings.Overseas students also wrote letters, hoping that this book can be sold abroad.

This is a very strange phenomenon. The record-breaking, insane success of "Wildfire" was not an accidental, isolated event.From the turbulent reaction of readers during the column period to the upsurge of readers "running to tell each other" after the book was written, it all shows that this is a profoundly meaningful social phenomenon in Taiwan.It's clear that our society has a hunger for the sound of "Wildfire."

What do you need?

"Wildfire" is a strong critical voice; when the object of criticism is oneself, it becomes introspection. "Wildfire" is thus also a voice of self-reflection.But there aren't any new ideas in "Wildfire."It accuses modern Chinese of losing moral courage, it requires students to strive for space for independent thinking, and it demands political openness and tolerance.In modern history, wave after wave of Chinese intellectuals shouted the same words again and again.As a professor said: "Your wildfire spirit is not much different from the Wenxing spirit of that year; but why is it necessary to shout about things that were shouted 20 years ago? It shows that our progress is very limited." Indeed. , but this time the shout caused endless echoes in the empty valley, and the "wild fire" was burned into a small sea of ​​flames by a small match, indicating that this was a different timing.Maybe people are not only tired of the cliché itself, but also tired of failure after shouting again and again.Among the thousands of letters from readers, most of them have such a sentence: "Ah! You said what I wanted to say a long time ago", followed by three exclamation points! ! ! "Wildfire" clearly provides an emotional outlet with gusto, but it's shocking how blocked and depressing that emotion is before it's released.

Taiwan is undergoing transformation.It used to be a unified and authoritative society. Children obeyed their parents, students obeyed their teachers, and people obeyed the government.But the economy has taken off. If the previous generation strived for material independence, then this generation is pursuing spiritual independence.With the improvement of education standards, children often know more than their parents, students come out of the blue, and the people possess more knowledge than bureaucrats.The impact of Western democratic culture is even more bold and direct.When Reagan said that Gaddafi was plotting to assassinate him, Taiwan's TV showed: American reporters loudly asked the president: "Do you have any evidence? If you don't have evidence, you are lying." It is impossible for this kind of footage to have no impact on our society that worships television.No matter how simple-minded people are, they will ask: "Oh, is this what democracy is like?" What's more, people who have already received education and would rather think for themselves.

Economy, education, foreign culture, etc. constitute the fruits of knowledge in the Garden of Eden, and the general public in Taiwan is Adam who ate apples.After eating an apple, he found himself naked, so he eagerly wanted to see the reality clearly and solve the problem, but Adam had a blindfold tied on his face—the old concepts, old systems, old practices, and old beliefs before eating apples. looking at Adam's wide eyes.The dogmas, slogans, myths, and lies that have not been censored for many years tightly wrapped Adam's eyes that began to flow.

"Wildfire" has one simple request: remove the blindfold.The frenzied response to "Wildfire" may have conveyed a simple but urgent and resolute message: let's not go blindfolded!Let children, students, and people all see with their own eyes and think with their own minds.

voice in the wild
The main reason for the popularity of "Wildfire" is of course its stance against authority and criticism of the status quo, but why do publications that are more violent and rebellious than it, such as some party magazines, do not get echoes outside the small circle?Of course, human factors are very important, such as the problem of banning; the most important factor lies in the limitations of these magazines themselves.On the one hand, books and publications that praise authority and worship the status quo are not attractive to people who are tired of blindfolds, because their starting point and destination are an ideology.On the other hand, although some non-Party publications flaunt criticism, they cannot completely win readers over, because they often start from a specific ideology and aim at a certain political structure; different ideologies, different Political purposes, but anti-propaganda can become propaganda, and anti-dogma can become dogma.If you don't have a broad mind, long-term vision and persistence in rationality, the blindfolds will still be blindfolds if they change colors!Adam, who ate the apple, was eager, impatient, and eagerly looking forward to not just changing a blindfold!

We cannot do without non-Party publications, because it is a voice of checks and balances.Judging from the phenomenon of "wildfire", we urgently need a third voice, a real and pure "outside" voice that does not start from a single ideology, has no political ambitions.This voice is usually uttered by intellectuals who care about society, but in today's Taiwan, this voice is not absent, but it is weak and mute.Intellectuals are either restrained by power and dare not make a sound, or succumb to the selfish desire of being an official and sing tactfully, or are discouraged and retreat due to the failure of attempts; The "Wildfire Collection" is no exception; or to put it another way, "Wildfire", a book that advocates the most basic democratic concepts, can cause such a big shock. It is not that "Wildfire" is advancing, but that this society is backward; The voice of "wildfire" is particularly clear, but this society lacks a loud and clear voice in the wild.

There are no tigers in the mountains, and monkeys dominate.The massive "wildfire" is actually just a monkey; what Taiwan needs is the roar of a real tiger, the roar of many tigers.

Magpie · Crow
I began to write "Wildfire" out of extreme impatience after decades of soaking in the "sauce vat" of whitewashing, dogma, self-boasting, and self-consolation, but I was immediately asked: Why only write bad ones?Why not write on the bright side?The people are very hardworking, the government is working hard, and the society is very stable!Why is it one-sided?Is it "with ulterior motives"?

Yes, I am "with ulterior motives", with ulterior motives like a pathologist.A pathologist analyzes and studies the bacteria-carrying section under a microscope, and then tells you how this half of the lung is rotten; you don't say: "Strange, why only talk about my bad half of the lung? Why don't you boast—Quana Good half?"

So why are social pathologists asked to talk about the "bright side"?

Besides, aren't there not enough people praising hard-working people, a hard-working government, and a stable society?Why do you need me to join?
You have influence!Readers trust you.

This is so naive.If the author of "Wildfire" has any so-called influence, it is simply because he is as silent as a crow; how could he have won the "confidence of his readers" and then joined the ranks of magpies?A society should have many different voices conveying different messages; crows and magpies have their own divisions.But if the reporting magpie feels unconvincing, it must change its style and start telling the truth instead of asking the "influential" crow to change its feathers and sing the magpie song.

There are also people who are worried: "Wildfire" has exposed so many shortcomings of Taiwan, what if the enemy uses it for propaganda?
What to do!It is only the simple minds who do not know that self-criticism is a faculty of self-reflection.When Brandt of West Germany and Nixon of the United States caused a scandal known to the whole world, the attitude of the two people to pursue to the end won respect, not contempt.Our newspapers like to happily report the bad things exposed by the mainland newspapers, as a propaganda of "look how bad they are", but in fact, the more the CCP allows the exposure of scandals and the release of criticism, the more it shows the progress of their ideas, and it also means The more worthy of our vigilance.

Exposing one's weaknesses for self-criticism is an advantage, not a disadvantage. "Wildfire" does not need to describe the bright side of Taiwanese society, because, I believe, the existence of "Wildfire" itself is a manifestation of the bright side; it shows that Taiwan's system can tolerate criticism, and the people of Taiwan can reflect on themselves; society.

Let others use "Wildfire" as a publicity!

previous generation, this generation, next generation

The polarized response to the book is another phenomenon worth pondering.On the one hand, many teachers used it as a textbook outside of the textbook, encouraging students to discuss and write their reflections; on the other hand, some students wrote: "Our instructors forbid us to read your book, saying that Long Yingtai pollutes the minds of young people..." On the one hand, some industrial and commercial organizations ordered hundreds of books and gave them to employees to read; on the other hand, some specific groups explicitly listed "Wildfire" as a banned book.Many readers praised the author as an "intellectual who truly loves the people, loves the country, and has a conscience," but some called her a "communist bandit."

Why are there two incompatible ways of reading a book written in black and white?

According to the analysis of letters from readers, those who are afraid of "wildfire" are older and more people have spent military life. Those who support "wildfire" include all walks of life, occupations, and education levels. The middle class, between the ages of 40 and college educated, is the mainstream.Younger middle school students in their teens are a little confused: "The Chinese teacher wants each of us to familiarize ourselves with 'Wildfire', but yesterday there was an article in the supplement saying that you are extreme and wrong for the country, who should I believe? Are you a bad person or Nice guy?"

In this way, a clear generation gap emerges.From the reaction to the "wildfire", we can also see more clearly what kind of transitional society Taiwan is.

For the convenience of writing, let me use terms such as "the previous generation" and "this generation", which are somewhat overgeneralized.The previous generation, who panicked at the idea of ​​openness, freedom, and independent thinking that "Wildfire" preached, generally had three theories. “We loyally followed the government to Taiwan, and the government has been kind to us like our parents,” wrote a retired military officer. “Your book spreads rebellious ideas.”

This is the first type.Treating the government as a parent, administrative measures as kindness, and criticism as "rebellion" reveals a deep-rooted feudal consciousness.This shows how shallow our democratic experience is.

Another very common thought: How can students be encouraged to think independently and to fight for their rights?Isn't this a student riot?The mainland is lost because of the student riots!
This simple "view of history" made two fundamental mistakes: first, students thinking independently and striving for rights are not the same as rioting; second, the student riots on the mainland were the result, not the cause.Student riots are not monkey grandchildren who suddenly pop out from the rocks for no reason. There must be a political morbidity first, and the dissatisfaction of the people has smoldered to a certain extent before the student riots broke out.If we want to avoid student riots, we must strive to be fair and reasonable politically, instead of trying to lock the minds of young people.

The third argument: Our generation has won the stable situation of today's clothing, food and warmth by throwing our heads, spilling blood, starving and freezing. What human rights... It is a big deal for a writer to be imprisoned for a year or two. Huh, compared to the sufferings of our generation, what is being imprisoned for a few years?

Probably many parents have said this to their children, with great persuasive force.One appeals to emotion—I sacrificed for you, you should be grateful; the other appeals to the authority of experience—I have suffered, you have not, so I am right and you are wrong.

On some levels, of course he was right.This generation should be grateful to the previous generation.This so-called previous generation, who is getting old, used to hug a sleeping baby tightly in his arms during the turmoil, took the child to pay the medical bills hungry, and pushed the bicycle along the road and called "machine steamed buns" to let the child pay the school fees. , Later, he exchanged a thin stack of pensions for air tickets for his children to study abroad.The previous generation lay down and paved themselves into bricks for our generation to stride over. "The stability of food, clothing and warmth" was the goal of the previous generation who gritted their teeth and worked hard, but for this generation, it is a commonplace The starting point of gratitude, of course it should be.

However, the "loud yelling" of this generation is not "people do not know happiness when they are blessed".He already has the blessing of food and clothing, but now he is clamoring loudly, pursuing another kind of blessing, a higher level of blessing: democracy, freedom, human rights... The stability of clothing, food and warmth is only the basic starting point, and of course this generation cannot be satisfied with it. It would be naive for the previous generation to think that this generation should take a nap in tranquility after eating and burping.When you have enough food, you start to seek exquisite cooking; when you have enough clothes, you start to seek beautiful designs; when society is stable, you start to ask for something to be done.Material abundance and environmental stability are only the basic conditions for social progress.The previous generation laid such a foundation, and this generation may be able to build an open, free, and just society as the foundation for the next generation; while the next generation of "people do not know happiness when they are blessed" continues to "loud", maybe we will With the emergence of really great thinkers, artists, statesmen.

Standing at a new starting point, this generation is ready to sprint forward, and it will not be able to pull back.Unless you wring his arm.If our society is to be harmonious, this generation must understand the experience of the previous generation and be grateful;In this way, it is possible to avoid the incompatible polarities, and it is also possible to answer the question of the next generation: "Who should I trust?"

happiness knows no bounds
Obasan in the market squatted on the wet ground to peel corn, in order to make up for the college expenses of his younger students.What she cares about may be the harvest of spinach and the price of a catty, and what the younger generation cares about may be how to fight for an environment that allows him to think independently. "Wildfire" doesn't make sense to Obasan.It is meaningful to her offspring. What we can hope is that one day, the offspring of the offspring will be born in a warm, free and open environment, and he will be able to fully develop his full potential without struggling. .

Happiness has no end. "Wildfire" is nothing but a cry for happiness!

One hundred thousand copies represents a very urgent cry.

It's public holiday again
Originally published in "China Times" on December [-], [-]

If you suddenly forget where you are, the student's excuse for being absent is often the most accurate indicator.

"Teacher, next week I will take my pigs to Texas to participate in a pig breeding competition, so I can't come to class."

(End of this chapter)