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China news tagged with: Yang Hengjun (7)

• The Progress of the Chinese: I Don’t Have To Rely On The Foreign Media To Understand China

  

  Roland Soong of ESWN translates a blog post by Guangzhou-based blogger and online novelist Yang Hengjun on the importance of having a critical eye towards the media and China:

  With the Internet, the Chinese people have a platform for expression to expose the problems around us. So we began to change. This is not a case in which the overseas media began to misunderstand China and “distort” their reports on China. Rather, we understand our nation better and we become aware the inadequacy of the foreign media in achieving a full and in-depth understanding of China.

  This is the biggest progress that I have seen in China. This progress came as a result of criticisms and not because of the effusive praises. The true wonder of America and other western countries is that all their flaws and ills come from the facts that are exposed by their people and even the government itself.

  I have thought about the day when all the problems in China were dug out by the people themselves. We may not have become rich or strong overnight, and we still lag behind the west by a far distance. But we will catch up or even surpass them sooner or later. Let us now review the history of the People’s Republic of China over the last 30 years. We ask ourselves which advancement did not depend on the efforts (or even sacrifices) of Chinese people who dared to expose and criticize problems …?

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  • October 23, 2009 1:39 PM

• For Many Chinese, Literary Dreams Go Online

  

  CNN explores what it calls an “literary renaissance” online in China. Some, like Guangzhou-based blogger and online novelist Yang Hengjun, believe that the the partnership between the Internet and literary expression will generally grow to be more promising in the future. More, from CNN:

  The past decade has seen the blossoming of countless literary Web sites and online forums hosting stories from thousands of aspiring authors. Their work is read by millions of Internet users, leading some to assert that in the future all writing, even reading, in China will take place in cyberspace.

  “It’s an inevitable trend due to the rapid development of the Internet and conceptual change of people,” said Hou Xiaoqiang, head of Shanda Literature, a division of Shanghai-based Shanda Interactive Entertainment, the largest online entertainment provider in China.

  “Ordinary people have started to realize the world ought to be dominated by them, rather than some media or elite,” Hou added. “Online authors are breaking the rules and using totally fresh concepts.”

  In addition to Yang Hengjun, the article profiles another noted online author, Murong Xuecun. His book, Leave Me Alone, Chengdu, started from the humble beginnings of an online office bulletin board. The online book became hugely popular among netizens, and a printed version went on to be on the short list of the 2008 Man Asia Literary Prize. An excerpt of the novel can be read here.

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  • February 15, 2009 6:25 PM

• Twenty Most Influential Figures in China’s Cyberspace

  

  In the post-Olympics China, another round of media crackdown is clearly underway. Still, the Southern Metropolis Weekly just profiled 20 of the most influential bloggers and commentators in China’s cyberspace, who possess considerable power in shaping public opinions in the country, translated by CDT’s Linjun Fan:

  “A whole new world of expression and influencing public opinion has come to China with the spread of the Internet. The Internet provides people in China an unprecedented platform to express themselves, a place that’s boundless and centerless, and has brought about an explosion of personal expression.

  Traditional elites in the Chinese society can no longer monopolize the power to shape public opinion, as ordinary citizens and anonymous bloggers are becoming more and more influential in online forums and blogs.

  One can no longer ignore the boisterous opinions posted on the Internet, because they are powerful enough to bring significant change to the real world.

  A group of opinion leaders stands out among the sea of bloggers and commentators on the Internet. Some of them were originally well-known intellectuals, and their influence has been expanded by the Internet. Some of them were not known to the public at all, but the Internet has given them an opportunity to reach an audience of tens of millions.

  They come from a variety of professions, ranging from business executives to employees, from officials to scholars, from professors to freelancers. But they belong to the single community of netizens when they express their opinions on the Internet.
  　　
  We have selected 20 of them as representatives in order to paint a collective portrait of the influential figures in China’s Internet era.

  Those selected are active on the Internet, are well-known to the public and possess a considerable amount of power in influencing public opinion.

  They are different from traditional intellectuals not only in the tools they use — instead of pen and paper, they use keyboards and web pages — but also in their style of writing. They are much more personal and casual…

  They are put into six categories, based on the subject and style of their writings:
  Public Enlightenment: He Weifang, Li Yinhe, Xiao Han, Wang Shuya;
  Criticism on the Establishment: Song Zude, Han Han, Fang Zhouzi;
  Satire: Tao Tie, Qian Liexian, Wang Xiaofeng, Hecaitou;
  General Commentary: Shiniankancai, Wuyuesanren, Lian Yue, An Ti, Yang Hengjun;
  Rebellious: Mu Zi Mei, Luo Yonghao;
  Business & Economics: Han Zhiguo, Ren Zhiqiang. ”

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  • December 7, 2008 9:48 PM

• Dispatches from the Chinese Bloggers Conference

  

  The following are dispatches from bloggers who attended the recently concluded Chinese Bloggers Conference in Guangzhou. Attendees at the conference included a broad range of bloggers who write on technology, business, culture, and a variety of other topics. CN Reviews blogged the conference and the presentations by many of the participants. Most of the discussions centered around technology, the Internet, culture and business. But inevitably a few bloggers turn their thoughts to more political topics, as these posts show:
  
  In the concluding speech of the conference, Chinese blogger Yang Hengjun reflected on how the Internet has played a significant role in informing the public in China, and how blogging has renewed his life (excerpts translated by CDT’s Linjun Fan):

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  • November 19, 2008 11:30 PM

• Yang Hengjun: The Chinese Distorted View Of Democracy

  

  From UPI Asia Online:

  It is inevitable that the topic of democracy should be in the minds of many Chinese early this month, especially today. Unlike many people in the world who have enjoyed a democratic lifestyle, however, there are still many misunderstandings in the minds of the Chinese.

  The most common viewpoint is often expressed in the statement, “Democracy isn’t food.” Many tend to set the two against each other: democracy versus bread. How on earth did people get this idea, which has made them averse to democracy? The Chinese need to carefully evaluate this concept of theirs.

  Here are two undeniable facts: Most of the top 100 countries, whose citizens are the wealthiest in the world, are democratic, and almost all those at the bottom are non-democratic; there is practically no country that has transformed itself from an autocracy to a democracy in which the people have a lower living standard than before.

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  • June 4, 2008 7:51 PM

• Yang Hengjun: Let the Holy Torch Enlighten a Road of Simplicity, Nature and Harmony

  

  The following essay was posted by Guangzhou-based blogger Yang Hengjun, and as translated by Linjun Fan:

  Let the Holy Torch Enlighten a Road of Simplicity, Nature and Harmony

  When China Central Television was broadcasting the Olympics torch lighting ceremony live from Greece, I watched the whole process. I have to admit that I found the complicated ceremony to be weird and funny at first, because I am not used to that kind of scene. What’s it like? It’s very austere. I have experienced all kinds of grandiose movements and activities in China. Whenever I think of the Olympic Games, images of large unified crowds pop into my mind. Also, it’s rare for our national television network to broadcast live such a simple and crude activity.

  However, I was deeply attracted by the flame lighting ritual. The priestess presiding over the ritual was dressed in pure white. She lit the holy flame from a bowl on the ground, and danced elegantly with several Greek women similarly dressed on a nearby hillside. There were also eight bare-foot men, acting out various scenes of sports competitions on a lush grassland. Their holiness and beauty grabbed me.

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  • May 3, 2008 10:00 PM

• My Heart Aches For The Vulnerable Ones

  

  Guangzhou-based writer and blogger Hengjun Yang (杨恒均) wrote the following post on his blog, translated by CDT’s Linjun Fan.

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  • February 15, 2008 12:23 PM

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