Editor’s Note: This article is the unabridged version of the New Year’s message from Southern Weekly in 2013, authored by Mr. Dai Zhiyong, a senior commentator at Southern Weekly.
Between heaven and earth, time blossoms.
This is our first meeting in 2013; may you be illuminated by dreams.
In 2012, you guarded your life, while they guarded their work. Protecting this job is to safeguard their dreams for life.
In 2012, the strong voice for constitutional governance echoed from the halls of power: “The life of the Constitution lies in its implementation, and its authority also lies in its implementation.” We look forward to the Constitution growing teeth and constitutional governance taking root soon. Only in this way can we achieve the difficult transformation of this ancient country; only in this way can the nation and the people stand again on solid ground.
Today, China is a place where dreams can be realized; today is an era of fulfilling dreams. After experiencing the nightmare of the Cultural Revolution, which lacked constitutional governance, we have spent over thirty years gradually returning to reason and sentiment. From the household responsibility system to individual businesses, township enterprises to “private enterprises,” by slightly returning the right of the people to arrange their lives autonomously, we have created prosperous cities and harvested abundant grain.
We have redefined what is true and what is false, distinguishing right from wrong; we have rekindled our love for justice and our yearning for freedom. In the face of brutal power, we hold hands and walk through difficult times together, welcoming the turning point in life.
Today, we can finally stand tall from the thick dust of history, lift our heads from the trivialities of daily life, retrace the constitutional long march of our ancestors, and relive their great dreams.
More than 170 years ago, we began to awaken from the delusions of the Celestial Empire. First defeated by the British, then by the Japanese. The people increasingly suffered, and the sense of shame deeply pierced the hearts of Chinese intellectuals. Save the nation! Save the race! From Westernization to constitutional monarchy, from constitutionalism to revolution. From tools to systems to culture, the indignant were willing to completely overthrow the “Confucian shop” and resolutely uproot their own civilization.
After the Xinhai Revolution, the Qing emperor abdicated, and our ancestors finally established Asia's first republic. However, a free, democratic, and prosperous constitutional China did not follow.
Internally and externally, wars raged; among the people, cruelty persisted.
At one point, people distanced themselves from benevolence, righteousness, the way of heaven, and the steadfastness of freedom.
At one point, people mistook wrong for right, called a deer a horse, and countless lives were extinguished.
Beautiful dreams and landscapes shattered together. Freedom and constitutional governance faded away.
Having endured the tribulations of the world and deeply tasted the darkness of human nature, we remain dreamers, with hearts capable of dreaming.
Today, we not only dream of material abundance but also hope for spiritual richness; we not only dream of national strength but also hope for national dignity. The new citizen and the new nation, salvation and enlightenment, cannot be separated from each other, nor can one overshadow the other. And constitutional governance is the foundation of all these beautiful dreams.
Fulfilling constitutional governance and safeguarding rights will allow everyone to have hearts as bright as the sun and moon; the widowed, the lonely, and the abandoned can feel the warmth of winter rather than shiver; “city management” and street vendors can engage in cheerful conversations; homes can become castles for oneself and one’s family;
Fulfilling constitutional governance, limiting and distributing power, citizens can loudly express their criticisms of public authority; everyone can live freely according to their inner beliefs; we can build a strong and free nation.
Fulfilling the grand dream of constitutional governance allows everyone to realize their personal beautiful dreams. And this requires us to start from what is at hand, to begin with safeguarding the life we have at this moment, rather than leaving the heavy burden to future generations.
Many people have long understood this deeply, and many have already worked hard to practice it.
It is not the outstanding who dream, but those who are good at dreaming who are outstanding.
Your inherent right is to dream and to fulfill your dreams!
Applaud for your dreams, cheer for the dreams of this country; this is the dream of many journalists, a modest ambition. They are loyal to journalism, but even more so to their hearts. May you also have a rosy beautiful dream; let freedom fulfill yourself, completing what heaven has bestowed.
There will always be dreams that everyone can be a dignified person, whether in high positions or performing on the streets;
There will always be dreams that everyone has love in their hearts, even if a criminal may not be utterly vicious, there is always a flicker of compassion;
There will always be dreams that social classes are merely a driving force for free movement, rather than a chasm of mutual suspicion and hatred; there will always be dreams that this five-thousand-year civilization continues to thrive, offering a cup of sweet, clear spring water to improve the modern plight of humanity...
Fulfilling these thousands of dreams can soothe the deep pain of over a hundred years.
After turning for a hundred and seventy years, how difficult it is for dreams to come true! Even after a hundred and seventy years, there are still those who long for the sprouting of conscience, reliving the meaning of destiny; there are still those who insist on having rights realized, politics returning to the right path, and justice flowing freely.
There are still those who believe that no matter how difficult it is, dreams will eventually be realized as good constitutional governance, and the wind will carry beautiful customs.
Our ancestors paved the way with hardship, practicing righteousness and becoming benevolent. Now, their descendants inherit their aspirations and carry the torch forward.
To fulfill dreams, we must naturally draw on the wisdom of our predecessors and reconcile with the beliefs, customs, and emotions of the ancients. Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Mohism are all sources; the Zhou, Han, Tang, Song, and Ming dynasties each have their merits.
But this does not mean to revert to the past; the ancients cannot provide everything needed today. We should no longer easily belittle our ancestors, but calmly absorb and transform, allowing Chinese civilization to bloom anew and bear new fruits.
To fulfill dreams, we must naturally learn from the experiences of the world. Therefore, we must seriously examine Greek democracy, Roman rule of law, draw lessons from Anglo-American constitutionalism, and catch up with modern technological civilization.
But this does not mean merely becoming an excellent student of Western civilization; Westerners have their own evolutionary trajectories, which may not directly provide everything we need today.
We must stand on our own land and live a new life that blends the ancient and the modern with the peoples of various countries, creating a new civilization that merges East and West. In the interplay of the ancient and modern, East and West, we must adhere to universal human values while not hesitating to dream our own new dreams.
Praising the ancients and commending neighbors is not because they are perfect, but because we are familiar with the joy that radiates from their eyes and the freedom that flows from their hearts.
Chinese people should inherently be free individuals. The Chinese dream should inherently be a constitutional dream.
Under constitutional governance, the nation can continue to grow strong; under constitutional governance, the people can truly become strong. Fulfilling the dream of constitutional governance allows us to better contend for national rights and maintain the nation's freedom; it allows us to better contend for civil rights and maintain the people's freedom. Ultimately, the freedom of the nation must rest on the freedom of the people, where everyone can express their hearts and everyone can dream beautiful dreams.
As human beings, who can help but love freedom? This freedom is not only a right concerning power but also a forgiveness concerning revenge, a wisdom concerning ignorance, a benevolence concerning brutality, and a way concerning lawlessness.
The great way is to act for the public good; all things are free, each fulfilling their own nature. This is the dream of the ancients, the dream of our ancestors, and also the dream of many people today.
The Chinese dream, the dream of freedom, the dream of constitutional governance.
All things decay quickly, but dreams endure. All things are born because dreams do not perish. Dreams are the essence of life; when you fail a hundred times, that one hundred and first time fills your heart with undying hope.
There are still those who listen to your dreams, who expect you to dare to dream. You rise from suffering, and they cheer for you; you taste the warmth and cold of the world, and they cheer for you; you harvest a beautiful life, and they cheer for you... They have nothing but their dedication to dreams; they have no other strengths but their pursuit of truth.
A single truth can weigh more than the entire world, and a dream can make life burst with brilliance!