From EastSouthWestNorth blog:
In the March 13, 2005 issue of YZZK (see ChineseNewsNet), there are two articles about this banned story in China. The story is written by Yan Lianke (ÈñªÈÄ£Áßë) and is titled <<Serve The People>> (ÁÇ∫‰∫∫Ê∞ëÊúçÂãô). The original story contained more than 90,000 words. The manuscript had been circulated among various publishers, most of whom shied away from this provocative treatment of a sensitive subject. Finally, it was the bi-monthly literary magazine Hua Cheng (Ëä±Âüé) which took the plunge, after excising about 40,000 words down to 50,000 words. The manuscript was submitted to the ‘evaluation’ process during which another 10,000 words were excised to leave 40,000 words. The article was then published in the first issue of Hua Cheng in 2005.
It was at that moment that the nine-person evaluation group of the Central Propaganda Bureau caught wind of this story and realized that it was a major problem. An emergency order was issued to recall all 30,000 copies of Hua Cheng magazine that had been distributed. No sooner had the word got out when that issue became hot property among the culturati. There was even a carry-over effect in that the second issue of 2005 of Hua Cheng experienced greater demand.
At this time, the author Yan Lianke has not been questioned by anyone. He is currently in Beijing working on a television script. While he has experienced no personal problems, he regrets that the publishing company and his editor friends may be in trouble. No punishments have been meted out to anyone as yet but an investigation is going on.
What is in this story? Here is a synopsis:
