{"id":244128,"date":"2022-11-04T14:11:25","date_gmt":"2022-11-04T21:11:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=244128"},"modified":"2022-11-11T15:15:36","modified_gmt":"2022-11-11T23:15:36","slug":"li-wenliangs-wailing-wall-october-2022-some-who-live-are-already-dead-some-who-have-died-live-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2022\/11\/li-wenliangs-wailing-wall-october-2022-some-who-live-are-already-dead-some-who-have-died-live-on\/","title":{"rendered":"Li Wenliang\u2019s Wailing Wall, October 2022: \u201cSome who live are already dead; some who have died, live on.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
Two years and eight months after whistleblower<\/span> Dr. Li Wenliang<\/span><\/a>\u2019s death from COVID-19, the \u201c<\/span>Wailing Wall<\/span><\/a>\u201d that emerged in the comments under his last Weibo post continues to serve as a repository for the hopes, dreams, worries, and opinions of countless Chinese citizens. CDT editors regularly collect and archive<\/span> Wailing Wall content<\/span><\/a>, including the selection of comments translated below.<\/span><\/p>\n In October, many came to the Wailing Wall to commemorate Dr. Li\u2019s October 12 birthday, and to discuss an October 6 New York Times <\/span>documentary feature<\/span><\/a> (by Muyi Xiao, Isabelle Qian, Tracy Wen Liu, and Chris Buckley) that disclosed more detail about Dr. Li\u2019s final days. Based on a re-examination of Dr. Li\u2019s medical records, internal memos from Wuhan Central Hospital, and an interview with an anonymous colleague of Dr Li\u2019s, the NYT piece revealed that Dr. Li had experienced depression during his final illness, was not initially intubated (for reasons that remain unclear), and was kept alive artificially for over seven and a half hours to \u201cshow the public that no effort was spared\u201d\u2014despite the objections of doctors present, who argued that pointless, invasive procedures carried out after Dr. Li\u2019s heart had stopped would constitute an \u201cinsult to his body.\u201d His death was not announced until the early morning hours of the following day, February 7, 2020.<\/span><\/p>\n Throughout the month of October, Wailing Wall visitors made oblique mention of an <\/span>October 13 protest<\/span><\/a> in which a lone man set a fire on Beijing\u2019s Sitong Bridge and displayed two banners demanding an end to draconian \u201czero-COVID\u201d policies and calling for Xi Jinping to be removed from office. This extremely rare act of overt political defiance, which occurred on the eve of the CCP\u2019s crucial 20th Party Congress, was <\/span>heavily censored<\/span><\/a> across all media and online platforms. One Wailing Wall commenter dodged censorship by rendering the banner text \u201cWe want food, not nucleic acid tests\u201d (\u4e0d\u8981\u6838\u9178 \u8981\u5403\u996d, <\/span>Bu yao hesuan, yao chi fan<\/span><\/em>) as \u201c<\/span>\u4e0d\u8981\u548c\ud83e\uddc4\u8981\u5403\u996d,\u201d using the Chinese character for peace\/harmony <\/span>(<\/span>\u548c, he<\/em>) and the garlic emoji (suan<\/em>) to replace the term for \u201cnucleic acid test\u201d (<\/span>\u6838\u9178, hesuan<\/em>).<\/span><\/p>\n There were also references to the October 1 Chinese National Day holiday, long lockdowns in Urumqi and other cities, three straight days of People\u2019s Daily op-eds <\/span>trumpeting the continuation of China\u2019s \u201czero-COVID policy,<\/span><\/a>\u201d and the <\/span>lamentable, preventable death<\/span><\/a> of a quarantined 14-year-old girl due to delayed medical treatment. A number of visitors mentioned the recent rash of Weibo and WeChat account closures, or noted that their previous Wailing Wall comments had disappeared.<\/span><\/p>\n The following Wailing Wall comments, selected and translated by CDT editors, were originally posted during the week of <\/span>October 1-8, 2022<\/strong><\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n \u5915\u9633\u767d\u8d76\u4e00\u8d9f\u53f6\u513f\u58f0\u58f0\u964d\uff1aDr. Li, I’m here again. It\u2019s day 61 of <\/span>Urumqi’s lockdown<\/span><\/a>. One minute they talk about \u201clockdown,\u201d then it\u2019s a \u201csilent period,\u201d then \u201cstatic management,\u201d then \u201cvoluntary home quarantine.\u201d A friend asked me to lend him 700 yuan, and I asked him why such a specific number, instead of a round number like 500 or 1,000? He said because 700 was enough\u2014that\u2019s how much he was short on his loan payment. I sent him 1,000 yuan, and he sent me back 300, saying that 700 was enough, and that he was afraid if he borrowed more he wouldn\u2019t be able to pay it back. Chinese people just want to live normal lives. Why is that so difficult?<\/span><\/p>\n \u8fdb\u51fb\u7684\u963f\u4f1f\u4ed4\uff1aDr. Li, I read the <\/span>latest NYT report<\/span><\/a> that said you were forcibly “resuscitated” for more than seven and a half hours after you were technically dead. They politicized your initial attempt to inform the people around you about [important] medical news, and the fact that they politicized your body, even after death, is thoroughly evil. I am infinitely disappointed in my country, and I despise it for what it did to you.<\/span><\/p>\n \u5343\u5c42\u8106\u5854\uff1aI had my last Weibo account for ten years, until it was \u201cbombed<\/a>\u201d [shut down by Weibo administrators] back in 2020 because I shared something about your Weibo account. It\u2019s a shame they haven\u2019t learned any lessons since then. Even now, when something happens, the first thing they do is muffle people\u2019s \ud83d\udc44. I wish you all the best.<\/span><\/p>\n \u5e93\u5e03\u91ccbin\uff1aAn EKG report from about 9:10 p.m. on February 6 showed that Li Wenliang had no heart activity, but Wuhan Central Hospital didn\u2019t announce his death until 2:58 a.m. the following morning, February 7. A lot of netizens are furious that the hospital delayed the announcement of his death for so long.<\/span><\/p>\n MrWang_Math\uff1aThe New York Times made a <\/span>short documentary<\/span><\/a> about you. These memories have faded within China, but on the other side of the ocean, they\u2019re being carefully preserved. Were it not for them, perhaps these records would have disappeared as well.<\/span><\/p>\n \u5b1b\u5b1b\u662f\u6700\u68d2\u7684\uff1aCurrent pandemic controls have become perverted and practically inhumane, unchecked power violates our civil rights, and everyone is blinded by ignorance and arrogance. It suddenly struck me that maybe it was good you left us so early, because you were spared witnessing this fucked-up world.<\/span><\/p>\n L\u96d9\u9b5a\u7ae5\u978b\uff1aDr. Li, when you were alive, you weren\u2019t allowed to speak. After you left us, we couldn\u2019t speak. And now, no one dares to speak. There will always be people who try to cover all of this up, to <\/span>Return it to Dust<\/span><\/a>~~<\/span><\/p>\n \u7528\u6237\u6c89\u9ed8\u662f\u91d122004\uff1a\u2019Morning, Dr. Lee. How many ears must one man have, before he can hear people cry?<\/span><\/p>\n \u65e0\u654c\u5b9d\u73e0\u5927\u738b\uff1aDr. Li, thank goodness your humanity exceeded your \u201cParty spirit.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u4ec0\u9ebc\u6a23\u7684\u5783\u573e\uff1a<\/span>We<\/span><\/em> miss you. <\/span>They\u2019re<\/span><\/em> afraid of you. <\/span>[<\/span>Chinese<\/strong><\/a>]<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Wailing Wall comments from <\/span>October 9-15, 2022<\/strong><\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n \u82cf\u79be\u6e58\uff1aHave you seen it? Someone cried out, <\/span>\u201c<\/span>We want food, not nucleic acid tests!<\/span><\/a>\u201d [\u201cNucleic acid tests\u201d is rendered here as \u201c<\/span>\u548c\ud83e\uddc4\u201d, or \u201c<\/span>hesuan<\/span><\/em>,\u201d to evade censorship<\/span>.] \/\/ <\/span>NULL\u5927\u6e7f\uff1a<\/span>\u201c<\/span>Arise, all ye who <\/span>refuse to be slaves<\/span><\/a>!<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u4e540717\uff1aDr. Li, yesterday someone <\/span>stood up<\/span><\/a>. Maybe that counts as a birthday present for you? Chinese people have some backbone\u2014not everyone bows down. If it\u2019s within your power, please bless and protect them, and keep them alive \u2026<\/span><\/p>\n \u4e4c\u9f9f\u6162\u6162\u6162\u6162_kun\uff1aHappy Birthday, Dr. Li! Last year, I met my boyfriend, who is studying medicine. This year, I hope he\u2019ll be able to successfully pursue his doctoral studies. Also, a lot of people’s WeChat accounts got \u201cbombed<\/a>\u201d [permanently deleted] today, which is really inconvenient since everyone uses WeChat nowdays, even for work. But there\u2019s nothing you can do about it, except laugh\/cry.<\/span><\/p>\n H_Jsunny\uff1aThis is a society where we can\u2019t even go home without getting our codes scanned.<\/span><\/p>\n 220528-41\uff1a<\/span>“‘Lying flat’ is unacceptable; victory by ‘lying flat’ is impossible.”<\/span><\/a> How do you feel when you hear this sentence? To me, it feels like a slap in the face to a billion people, like they\u2019re saying, \u201cOh, you want us to change [zero-COVID policy]? <\/span>Dream on!<\/span><\/a>\u201d Backed by that sort of inflexibility and arrogance, they\u2019re trampling all over us. \/\/ \u60f3\u559d\u76ae\u86cb\u7626\u8089\u7ca5123\uff1aDid you see that People\u2019s Daily article under the <\/span>“Zhong Yin\u201d<\/span><\/em> byline<\/span><\/a>? It\u2019s hopeless.<\/span><\/p>\n Nssymh\uff1aWe\u2019ve been locked down for a week. They had to stop someone in the complex across from ours from trying to jump off a building. Sigh \u2026<\/span><\/p>\n \u738b\u6587\u4eae\u540c\u5b66\uff1aThose who speak the truth can only whisper it in secret. Those who tell lies spout their bullshit all day, every day. And every day, they arrest those who speak the truth.<\/span><\/p>\n \u6211\u662f\u5973\u751f\u7b11\u563b\u563b_1688\uff1aThey don\u2019t want you to understand politics, but they want you to <\/span>speak of politics<\/span><\/a>\u2014what kind of an age are we living in?<\/span> [<\/span>Chinese<\/strong><\/a>]<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Wailing Wall comments from <\/span>October 16-22, 2022<\/strong><\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n \u4e0d\u53ef\u63cf\u8ff0\u63d0\u63d0\u795e\uff1aDr. Li, today I saw your words inscribed on a <\/span>bench in Central Park<\/span><\/a>, and I was deeply moved. <\/span>\ud83d\ude4f\ud83d\ude4f\ud83d\ude4f \/\/ <\/span>\u7f8e\u6735\u672a\u592e\uff1aThe first Chinese-language inscription on a bench in Central Park is in memory of you. Nearly three years into the pandemic, we miss you very much.<\/span><\/p>\n Maggie\u6ce1\u6ce1\u599e\u513f\uff1aSo, after October 1, the pandemic has started up again. We\u2019ve been locked down at home all week, with no news from outside. A couple days ago, a young girl at a quarantine center in Ruzhou had a <\/span>fever and convulsions<\/span><\/a>, and no one took care of her, and <\/span>now she\u2019s dead<\/span><\/a>. Tell me what\u2019s scarier, Dr. Li\u2014the pandemic, or people? None of us can live normal lives with lockdown after lockdown after lockdown \u2026 will it ever end?<\/span><\/p>\n Tthaha\u54c8\uff1aDr. Li, will Urumqi be okay? It\u2019s been 71 days [of lockdown].\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n -Shiroulor\uff1a<\/span><\/p>\n