Wildfire Collection: Thirty Years Anniversary Edition

Chapter 27 Wildfire 20 Years (6)
How did Long Yingtai set fire to Hong Kong?

——On the "knowledge intervention" of "foreign scholars"

Assistant Director, Chinese Cultural Center, City University of Hong Kong
Ma Jiahui

Professor Long Yingtai became famous in Taiwan in the mid-[-]s for writing the column "Wildfire Collection".The publishing house is "Bo Yi", a publishing enterprise under the TVB.

The Hong Kong version of "Wildfire Collection" has two features:

First of all, it still maintains the size of the popular pocket book in Hong Kong, but the pages are surprisingly thick. It is placed on the bookshelf of the bookstore, standing side by side with other pocket books that are accustomed to being thin and happy to be thin, and it looks particularly eye-catching.Secondly, although it is not a love story or a gossip, it sells surprisingly well. It sold more than [-] copies shortly after it was published. A publishing miracle that cannot be overlooked.

Just like in Taiwan, "Wildfire Collection" has also aroused extensive discussions in the intellectual circles of Hong Kong. Many cultural people are eager to debate the ins and outs of the "wildfire phenomenon" in newspaper columns and whispers at dinner parties. ", mainly to compare the situation in Hong Kong and Taiwan, so as to think about "why Hong Kong does not have sharp critical writers like Long Yingtai", "whether Hong Kong needs sharp critical writers like Long Yingtai", " Even if Hong Kong has Long Yingtai, how much role can she play in a society that is generally indifferent to political current affairs” and other issues.In the mid-[-]s, Hong Kong was in the so-called "return transitional period". Local elites showed unprecedented concern and interest in the identity of the city. There is no practical significance at the right time and place.

Perhaps what the local elites did not expect was that 20 years later, by chance, the "arsonist" Long Yingtai came directly to Hong Kong to set fire.

Lung Ying-tai immigrated from Taiwan to Hong Kong in mid-700. He first taught at the City University and then transferred to the University of Hong Kong. According to my close observation, these more than [-] days can be roughly divided into two stages:

The first [-] months were "don't use the hidden dragon". In addition to dealing with basic teaching work, Long Yingtai's main energy was to open her eyes and ears to observe, understand, and listen. She put her sense of knowledge into this post-colonial society. In the diverse corners of the city, I actively make friends (or potential enemies) from different classes and fields, and eagerly ask them about the outline and details of Hong Kong.When she first came to Hong Kong, she said, "I came here with the intention of studying abroad." In this sense, Long Yingtai is definitely a good student who works hard.

The next twelve months are "seeing the dragon in the field". Like a swimmer who has been submerged in the sea for a long time, Long Yingtai finally raises his face and shows his neck in the sea, takes a breath, swims vigorously, writes columns, and goes to the podium , Planning forums, hosting salons, speaking on the reality of Hong Kong everywhere, fanning the flames in various forms of public space and knowledge platforms.

In fact, according to Long Yingtai's "arson performance" in Taiwan, Shanghai and Singapore, if she said that she would spend two years quietly in Hong Kong, no one would believe it.But what is eye-opening to Hong Kong readers is that Long Yingtai adopts a very "real" attitude towards Hong Kong. Every time she speaks about this city, she does not only focus on abstract ideas or macro-reviews, but almost Each article provides criticism or suggestions for a unique and important group of public issues in Hong Kong. Long Yingtai talks about the development direction of the West Kowloon Cultural and Art District involving a budget of tens of billions of NT dollars, Long Yingtai talks about the protection of historical sites and mainstream values, Long Yingtai talked about the crisis and pitfalls of internationalization, Long Yingtai talked about the low level of English proficiency and prospects, Long Yingtai talked about the characteristics and status of overseas Chinese students in Hong Kong... Long Yingtai was keenly aware of the many concerns of Hong Kong people, but did not Ignoring the many negligence of the Hong Kong people, she continued to shoot, whether it was playful or serious, she inscribed the four characters "Come here for a visit" on the wall of Hong Kong. The font is so deep that no one can pretend not to see it.

Hong Kong is an international city, businessmen come and go, scholars come and learn, but almost every foreign scholar just politely said something like "Hong Kong is not a cultural desert, Hong Kong people are very civilized and ruled by law, and Hong Kong's wonton and drinking tea are also very popular." On the contrary, one of the merits of Lung Ying-tai’s two years in Hong Kong may be to demonstrate to Hong Kong people how foreign scholars can, should, and how to intervene in local society with “knowledge criticism”, so that this temporary resident cities provided several contributions.

In general, in all the articles and speeches of Long Yingtai, all of them implicitly or explicitly displayed the "Long Yingtai-style syllogism" to dismantle Hong Kong: First, she would focus on the focus and clearly point out what she wanted to talk about. What is the issue; then, she will point out what aspects and levels are lacking in Hong Kong people’s discussions on this issue; then, she likes to ask, if this issue occurs in Taiwan or the West, what development and outcome might be different; In the end, she will try to tell Hong Kong people what can be done, what should be done, and what unfortunately cannot be done.Taking her "Hong Kong, where are you going?" from the University of Hong Kong as an example, after discussing "Central values ​​monopolize Hong Kong values" and how this phenomenon restricts the cultural development of Hong Kong, she directly told Hong Kong people:
If I were not a decision-making official but a small citizen, then I would try my best to launch a civil disobedience movement, linking up all NGOs-environmental groups, consumer groups, primary school parents' associations, associations for the protection of abused women, labor rights promotion associations, literature and history Studios, youth volunteers...including international organizations; I will combine the students and professors of the history departments, architecture departments, urban and rural studies, urban planning, landscape departments, and education colleges of all universities who will be teachers in the future, and conduct long-term cooperation with the government. struggle.I will sit in, demonstrate, march.I will continuously write to the local and international media, I will appeal to UNESCO, I will complain to the "Member of Parliament"; I will seek a lawyer to discuss the possibility of suing the government.Finally, let me tell you what I will do in the end: I will use my vote to elect a government that does not know how to respect culture and despise its own history, and change the government.But Hong Kong's government cannot be changed because there is no universal suffrage.

Many people clapped and applauded Lung Ying-tai for the wildfire she ignited in Hong Kong, admiring her sharpness and sharpness, and being moved by being able to experience the light of "Wildfire Collection" 20 years ago at close range, but of course some people had different reasons For example, some politicians clearly accused "Long Yingtai and his like" in their commentary articles that they should understand that "in the process of China's transformation, the cooperation and struggle between the Chinese and British colonialists is the history of Hong Kong", "don't be obsessed with Rejecting the complex of China, getting into the dead end of the unstable local culture like Taiwan”; some business management experts insinuated in the column box that “the value of Central is not a negative, but a factor for Hong Kong’s success, and Taiwan should learn from it”; some government Senior officials complained at the dinner party that "Long Yingtai didn't understand Hong Kong at all, so he was deceived and misled by local cultural people with conflicting interests"... All kinds of discussions circulated in the rivers and lakes, clinging to Long Yingtai like a shadow.

After June 20, Long Yingtai will return to Taiwan to take over the coach again. Even if she travels to Xiangjiang again, she may only stay for a few days instead of staying for a long time; Whether the wildfire can burn some weeds that should be burned depends on the good fortune of the right time and place.Who knows?Just as who knew that Long Yingtai made a wrong prediction in the preface of "Wild Fire Collection" [-] years ago-"

The price of writing "Wild Fire Collection" is probably: no one will ask me to become an official in this lifetime. "

A wildfire burns the sky
Professor of Literature, Fo Guang College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Mason
Time flies by, and "Wildfire Collection" is 20 years old in a blink of an eye!If it is a small child, it is considered to have grown up when the coming-of-age ceremony is held.I had the honor to witness his birth, and watched him grow up gradually, becoming a pivotal figure affecting the development of contemporary society. I felt infinitely gratified in my heart.

The "Wild Fire Collection" was born in [-] by accident and necessity.

Following the clues of memory, I should start with my acquaintance with Long Yingtai.In the autumn of [-], I was invited by the newly established "National Academy of Arts" to take a one-year leave from the University of London and return to Taiwan as a visiting professor.In the following year, taking advantage of his residence in Taiwan, he published four novels in one go: "Story of Beijing" (Times Edition), "Seagull" (Erya Edition), "Life in a Bottle" (Erya New Edition) and "Night Tour" "(Erya Edition).In this year, Lung Ying-tai, who also just came back from overseas, published an article criticizing "Night Tour" in "New Book Monthly", and then published an article criticizing my other novel collection "Gujue" , These two reviews that were later included in "Longying Tai Ping Novels" became the medium for us to get acquainted.Because we have just returned from overseas, we have some common feelings and topics, and of course, because Long Yingtai is a very enthusiastic, meticulous, and open-minded person. The joy of matching, so we soon became close friends.

When Gao Xinjiang was the editor-in-chief of the supplement of "China Times", he once invited me to write a column "Essays on Aimengtun" for "Times Weekly", which was also edited by him. Aimengtun is my transliteration of the city of Edmonton in Canada , when I was teaching at the University of Alberta in Canada in [-], I have had contacts with the editor of the "China Times" since then.In [-], after Gao Xinjiang, Jin Hengwei edited the "China Times" supplement and continued to invite me to create two columns for the "Human World" supplement, "Looking at the East and West" and "Recounting the Past and the Present", both appearing in the newspaper once a week.I wrote from [-] to [-], and I was a little tired, so I really wanted to stop writing and rest.At this moment, Long Yingtai appeared in front of my eyes.Because her novel reviews show her clarity of thought, and her writing style is both refined and pungent, so she is a good candidate to write a column in my mind.At the same time, Yingtai's "Chinese, why aren't you angry" has already set off a trend in the "Renjian" supplement, but she doesn't know Heng Wei, so I specially invited Yingtai and Heng Wei to have a meal and introduce them to each other.Heng Wei is an active person and an editor-in-chief who appreciates talents very much. At the first sight, he agreed to create a column for the "Human World" supplement, so "angry" became the "Wild Fire Collection" column. After the first article of "Wild Fire Collection" appeared in the newspaper, it was the last column of my "Step Down and Bow" published in the "Human World" supplement.

I say it was accidental, because this incident came from a random thought I had at that time; I said it was inevitable, because a talent like Yingtai will be discovered sooner or later, there is no "Wildfire Collection" in "China Times" , There will also be "Wildfire Collection" or "×× Collection" of other newspapers and periodicals.

After the "Wild Fire Collection" was born, it coincided with the historical transition period from dictatorship to democracy in politics, and from closedness to openness in culture. Sure enough, half the sky in Taiwan was instantly popularized!There are so many columns in Taiwanese newspapers, but very few really have an impact.Sauce jar culture (to borrow Mr. Bo Yang's term) has been around for a long time, and it is not easy to shake it.During the two years when I wrote a column for the "Human World" supplement, I also had the experience of attacking corrupt forces. I didn't want to encounter intimidation and siege.Later, Yingtai's "Wildfire Collection" suffered more and more terrifying threats, in addition to intimidation, encirclement and suppression, and even fierce readers came to her door to throw ghost papers. Although the "Wild Fire Collection" caused such disgust and resentment from conservative forces, it did drop a resounding shock bomb to Taiwan's society, shaking some decayed and decayed pillars that were thought to be enough to support the sky, and more importantly The most important thing is to cleanse the self-righteous rural aspirations of the broad masses.

"Wildfire Collection" made Long Yingtai a household name in Taiwan, and thus created her endless rational and sharp chapters, which gradually won the love of readers, so that her wildfire spread from Taiwan to Hong Kong. Hong Kong has spread to the mainland again, and finally there is a social conscience across the strait that we see today, and an advocator of soy sauce vat culture-Long Yingtai!

Linear Memory in the Non-linear Era

Executive Deputy General Manager of Zhongtian TV

Chen Hao
It was only when I picked up the pen that I remembered that there was such a scene 20 years ago: I had a dispute with a "relevant unit" on a certain occasion. I insisted that she was "simple enough", and the other said with a sullen face, "She is very innocent." Dangerous", no one convinced anyone.

They were everywhere and everywhere in those days, and their claw marks are indispensable on the walls of memory.

The university life in Taipei in the second half of the 21s, the Zhongli incident, the "Taiwan-US severance of diplomatic relations", the suspension of elections, and the Formosa Island incident now seem to be the prelude to Taiwan in the [-]st century, but they were not for the young at that time. It is a surging political enlightenment.

The National Taiwan University entrance on Roosevelt Road often has wonderful political speeches. There is a row of bookstalls under the low eaves of illegal buildings. Use the anti-Communist as a fig leaf" article, and within two days I heard that he was arrested.Passion and lingering fear, years of indistinguishable taste, who is not innocent enough, who knows where the danger lies?

But it has been ten years since Long Yingtai published an article in "Wild Fire Collection" in the supplement "Human World" and was targeted by relevant units.There have been too many stories in the past ten years, those who were imprisoned, sentenced, exterminated and fell from the building, the husband went out to fight, and the magazines were banned... That year, I interviewed the election news of the families of the prisoners, and I was close to the political platform, and I was often thrown from behind. Fist-sized banknotes rolled to the end, which was the case for "small political donations" at that time.One day when I returned to the newspaper office, the editorial department, which was usually lively and full of discussions, was suddenly silent, and the air pressure was extremely low. Everyone was tense and asked secretly, only to find out that the security headquarters was coming to inspect the "Mainland Reference Room" that night.This shot will never be forgotten.

After a few more years, the spirit of murder has slightly diminished, and the atmosphere of the newspaper’s speeches is still dull, but the non-party movement outside the window has gained momentum. I guess those two years should be the time when the number of relevant units expanded the most, and Taiwan’s society was very loose. , They wanted to suppress but didn't know how to do it, so they had to find more people to watch.Incarnate as teachers, relatives, friends, classmates and colleagues, peeping from corners at any time, sometimes showing up to inquire, sometimes grinning, unable to distinguish between happiness and anger.In those two years, I met them most often, and occasionally dealing with them was like socializing.But I often think about the "heart method" taught by Master Xiashan back then: reason with them patiently, speak slowly, and think it over before talking.

When I spoke that time, "Wildfire" hadn't assembled yet. I met Long Yingtai once, and I felt that her articles and people were innocent, and she also had that super girl's sense of justice.For those of us who write semi-openly for the party magazines and live a very nervous life, Long Yingtai is not political at all.Reading her articles is natural and enjoyable, but I always feel that it is a collision on the second front. How can there be any danger that "that gentleman" talked about?Because he was not convinced from the bottom of his heart, he spoke quickly, and the gentleman changed his face and lost his smile. "My brother, let me tell you, her article is very provocative!"

That was the first time I broke up with them, and I just shrugged, thinking, only the feet know if the shoes are comfortable or not.

It's been 20 years since I left that memory.Later, from the second half of the 15s to the full [-] years of the [-]s, the development path of Taiwan’s democratic politics seemed to be a linear imagination, step by step, and open up one grid after another, which seemed quite reasonable. Cause and effect, especially the "general election" in [-], seemed to be the inevitable conclusion of some kind of linear development.The old era has become light and shadow debris, and the relevant units are like the steel squid that quickly shrinks and disappears in "The End of the Matrix", turning into small black spots in the distance.

(End of this chapter)