Wei
Jingsheng Foundation News and Article Release Issue: A316-W170
魏京生基金会新闻与文章发布号：A316-W170
Release
Date: December 5, 2007
发布日：2007年12月5日
Topic:
Courage of Love, Flames of Conscience (Prize Dedication to Zhang Lin and Yan
Zhengxue as Awardees of the Fourth Annual "Wei Jingsheng Chinese Democracy
Champion Prize" by the Wei Jingsheng Foundation)
标题：爱的勇气，良知的光焰 (魏京生基金会第四届"魏京生中国民主斗士奖"对张林、严正学的颁奖词)
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Courage
of Love, Flames of Conscience
--
Prize Dedication to Zhang Lin and Yan Zhengxue as Awardees of the Fourth Annual
"Wei Jingsheng Chinese Democracy Champion Prize" by the Wei Jingsheng
Foundation
December
5, 2007
A
few days ago, one of my friends who just came back from a trip to China told
me: "Nowadays, China has become like a place for fulfilling desires.
Everyone is working themselves to death in the quest for wealth."
China
is sick. This sickness causes polluted air, stinky rivers; this sickness
creates "Cancer villages" and "AIDS villages" where the
villages are disappearing and the farmers are dying without being noticed; this
sickness causes mines to collapse and bury workers on the site; this sickness
has broken down trust in society due to millions of fake and dangerous
merchandise; this sickness has enlarged the gap between the rich and the poor,
with a few rich people living a rotten and corrupted life while the majority of
the common people suffer more and more; this sickness has also kept people
quiet out of fear with a numbed spirit...the people of this sick country are
facing a bowl of magic evil soup, a soup of forgetfulness and numbness. If one
drinks from it one will fall into the abyss of suffering, be crushed without
even realizing it.
It
is the "autocracy disease," China has had it now for more than half a
century. It is an incurable disease in its last dying stage. The dictators are
at once elated with their creation, and yet also secretly speeding up the
persecution, in order to silence the brave voices and snuff out the kind
hearts. They hope one day to smile like a rattlesnake, watching Chinese people
rush into worldly desires like innocent kids. They hope morality will be swept
into the trash pile and what will remain in China are either lucky
good-for-nothings, or dead-seeming, hardly-breathing common people who are
pressed into a tiny place. Thus the Chinese autocratic system can keep its
rock-like grip on power forever.
In
this persecution, the prisons in China are like an invisible crematorium,
trying to burn up and destroy the democratic spirit in China. It threatens more
people hoping they will flinch in front of the door of democracy. This kind of
fear has been seen before. In the last century, many brave and righteous people
were killed in Nazi or Neo-Nazi concentration camps. They made French
Republicans become so reluctant and filled with dread even though they had been
very independent thinkers with a great spirit of criticism. In China, we know
that "implicate nine generations" and "exterminate the whole
family and confiscate all the property" of the Chinese history was so
cruel that it silenced Chinese intellectuals, who once valued one's spirit more
than life; and for generations used bold and unrestrained voices to advocate
good causes and noble character.
However,
I know, I believe, and I always trust that there is a kind of hero who can
stand up firmly, using his own blood and flesh to stop the destruction of the
soul of the nation, against the dictators annihilation of the democratic
spirit. Such heroes exist like stubborn green plants in the sandy, dry, deadly
desert that is full of lust. The number of these heroes is not as large as we
wish, but their existence is like a large bell tolling all the time and
reminding us: if we live like them we can avoid being a prisoner in spirit with
the soul-handcuffed.
Today,
it is once again December 5. On this day of every year it is the time to
announce the winners of the annual "Wei Jingsheng Chinese Democracy
Champion Prize". In the past three years, we presented the prize to Hu
Shigen and Liu Xianbin as the first annual prize winners in 2004; Yu Dongyue,
Wu Yilong and Chen Xi as the second annual prize winners in 2005, and Guo
Feixiong, Zhou Zhirong and Lin Mu as the third annual prize winners in 2006.
Among those winners of the Chinese Democracy Champion Prize, some is already
deceased, some have been driven insane, some are still suffering inhuman
torment in prison, and some are in society fighting the cruel and turbulent
situation, facing danger every day. They are the glory and pride of our nation.
The awards they received have encouraged more brave and clear-minded people,
waves upon waves of people, to join the ranks of those advocating democracy.
Today
is the day for the fourth annual award announcement. As usual, it is the time
for us to show our admiration, respect, and appreciation to these people who
sacrificed for Chinese democracy, an opportunity for us to provide limited
monetary help to those people who are suffering in a difficult situation, and
also a chance to comfort and show our gratitude to their family members,
relatives and friends who are all persecuted together.
The
prizewinners this year are Zhang Lin and Yan Zhengxue.
Forty-five
year old Zhang Lin is from Bengbu of Anhui province. He once studied at QingHua
University, but now is in prison. When Zhang Lin was as a college student, he
was influenced by the 1978 Democracy Wall Movement, and thus accepted the idea
of democracy and human rights and became a steadfast democracy fighter since then.
For the past 20 years, he has been always adamant and indomitable. He was
detained and imprisoned many times by the Chinese government and has been sent
to jail four times and spent a total of 13 years in prison.
Mr.
Zhang Lin participated in the 1989 Democracy Movement in China and was a key
person to establish and coordinate many student and worker organizations in
Anhui province. He was arrested by the government and charged with
"propagandizing and inciting counter-revolution" and was imprisoned
for that. After he was released he continued to participate in the democracy
movement, helping to establish several underground democratic organizations,
and was the chief coordinator for "China Workers Rights Defense
Alliance" lead by Liu NianChun of Beijing. For this, he was arrested again
and sentenced to three years of "Re-Education through Labor" without
trial.
In
1997, after being released from prison, Zhang Lin obtained a visa to travel to
the United States. When he arrived in the U.S. he immediately started to work
for the Wei Jingsheng Foundation and provided a lot of help. He could stay in
the United States and enjoy freedom and a better life, but he decided to go
back to Mainland China in order to help the Chinese democracy movement in the most
effective way. Unfortunately, his secret return failed, and he was arrested
again for the third time and was put in prison for three years.
After
his release in 2001, Mr. Zhang Lin was already a middle-aged man, poor with
nothing left. Moreover, as one of the people at the top of the government's
blacklist, his actions and words were highly monitored. But he never changed
his determination to push for democracy in China. He then chose the path of
independent writing, as a way to inspire democracy. In a few years he had
published hundreds of articles and commentaries that attacked government policy
and spread democratic ideals. Meanwhile, he endured many difficulties in doing
foundational organizational work for the future movements. In 2005 he was once
again arrested while traveling to participate in Mr. Zhao ZiYang's funeral in
Beijing. He was sentenced to five years. That year, he was on hunger strike for
almost 50 days in prison as a protest of the Chinese government's inhuman
violence.
I
need to point out that during the year before Mr. Zhang Lin's sentencing, he
contributed greatly to encouraging workers' rights movements, to help workers
to defend their own rights and to protect themselves in the best way. Through
Zhang Lin's effort, information about Chinese workers and rights defending
effort in Mainland China was passed to the Wei Jingsheng Foundation and then to
the whole world.
Mr.
Yan Zhengxue was born in 1944 in Taizhou of Zhejiang province. He is not just
an artist, writer, and artist-in-action, but also a long-term advocate of
democracy. He moved into Beijing's Yuanmingyuan artist village in 1989, and was
chosen as the head of the village. In 1993 he sued the Beijing police
department for its crackdown of people's artistic freedom, violation of human
rights etc. As a result, he was thrown in prison in 1994. Two years later,
after he was released, he held "Yan Zhengxue Prison Art Work Show",
as a way to denounce the government's inhuman conduct. Because of his
persistence in his special "action art"-- the
civilian-suit-against-government, he has been sued by more than a dozen
government departments, such as Beijing Reform-Through-Labor Department. In
June of 1999, he was arrested due to a lawful demonstration in which he gave a
speech to the public to call for a petition and signatures against corruption.
In
2001, Mr. Yan Zhengxue's brave action of suing the government as a social evil
was widely reported by world media. He then was called "The first person
to sue in China for the public good" and became one of the most famous
artists-in-action in Mainland China.
Yan
Zhengxue was invited to hold a "Yan Zhengxue Prison Art Work Show" in
New York, United States in 2003. He stayed in New York City to continue his
artistic and democracy movement work. Half a year later, he voluntarily went
back to China in order to protest the oppression and harassment of artists by
the Zhejiang, Taizhou government and legal system. He led an open letter to Hu
Jintao and Wen Jiabao, to appeal for abolishing
"Re-Education-through-labor". He also came to defend the 1989
Democracy Movement, and "use artistic action to prove this world, in an
effort to mold an eternal monument within the spirit of our nation."
(Quoted from Yan Zhengxue's own words.)
Mr.
Yan Zhengxue's persistence in the democracy movement has earned him great
respect. For more than 10 years, he has used "action art" as a
powerful weapon to promote democratic ideas, to resist an inhuman government,
and to protect the justice of art. He has helped people to sue the government
more than 40 times and has defended disadvantaged groups more than 100 times.
Because of this he has lost his basic rights and was harassed and oppressed
many times; beating, intimidation, and even attempted murder by automobile
"accident." He has been arrested as many as 13 times. In 2007, he was
sentenced to three years for "inciting to overturn the government".
Both
Zhang Lin and Yan Zhengxue have many moving characteristics. First, they are
both tough guys, indomitable despite suppression. Mr. Zhang has faced
imprisonment four times and Mr. Yan has been arrested 13 times. But it never
shakes their determination for democracy in China. Of Mr. Zhang Lin's
adulthood, more than half of his life has been spent in the dark cells of
prisons. But whenever he is free, he has always immediately started taking
action for democracy without hesitation. Similar to Mr. Zhang Lin, Mr. Yan
Zhengxue also has amazing qualities as a democracy advocate. In people's minds
artists are sensitive, weak and simple, yet this artist Yan Zhengxue can be
persistent and strong. Despite being tailed, plotted against, electric shocked
and beaten up, or under arrest or locked in prison, even facing possible death,
he never lowers his voice of protest. Mr. Zhang Lin and Mr. Yan Zhengxue, as
brave Intellectuals in China, without fear they have faced the bloody battle
and have written a glorious page in the history of Chinese democracy.
The
second moving characteristics about both Zhang and Yan are their courage of
love and flame of conscience. They pursue democracy and gave up the freedom of
living aboard. They voluntarily went back to China and devoted themselves to
fighting on the frontier of the Chinese democracy movement. Their choice is from
study and independent thinking for many years, as well as from their sympathy
towards the pitiful common people. Needless to say, love of the common people
and one's own conscience are the pilot in the modern soul-maze. The actions
done by Mr. Zhang and Mr. Yan show us the meaning of bravery, determination,
and rational thinking. These valuable characteristics are based on a love of
China and the Chinese people and based on the essential maintenance of one's
conscience, especially amidst chaos and difficulties. We think love toward the
common people is not just an emotion; it is a principle of how to live. It is
the root source that gives us courage to endure the pressure of the seemingly
strong dictatorship. With this love, one can give up love of self, and give up
desire for fame and money; then one can have a strong will to sacrifice oneself
for Chinese democracy.
Everyday
we face a choice. There are three kinds of choices. The first one is the choice
we have to make under political pressure. This kind of choice is regrettable,
but we cannot blame it too much since we cannot ask everyone to become a
martyr. In the second case, people have a certain freedom to make a choice
using one's own will. In this case, conscience and love can guide people to make
a correct and positive selection. As Alexander Solzhenitsyn said: one with
conscience can at least do one thing, that is, keep silent, do not add to the
flame of the evil fire. However, in the third case, the situation becomes very
uneasy, under the threat of tyranny, under the pressure of possible loss of
freedom even life, without being understood and being recognized. It is the
time of silent sacrifices, like true gold that proves its worth when thrown in
the hottest fire. It is the choice that is highly praised and remembered. It is
as if a light of conscience, a flame of love, brings the courage and sets the
example. Mr. Zhang Lin and Mr. Yan Zhengxue are this kind of flame. Today, we
give them this award in order to remember it, to grow it, and to encourage more
people to become this kind of flame so that the torch of democracy will grow
into a great fire to burn out the root of autocracy.
We
choose to announce the Wei Jingsheng Chinese Democracy Champion Prize on
December 5 in commemoration of what happened 29 years ago. On December 5 of
1978, Mr. Wei Jingsheng posted his "The Fifth Modernization --
Democracy" on Xidan Democracy Wall and rang the bell for the era of modern
Chinese democracy. For this deed he paid the heavy price of youth and health,
as well as freedom - for 18 long years of prison time. Every year on this day
we recall this deed and memorialize all heroes on the path of Chinese democracy
since then. We are glad to see this kind of hero emerge so frequently, one
after another. We see that more and more democracy fighters would rather die
for freedom than live silently enduring injustice. More and more brave people
use their intelligence and determined spirit to fight the autocracy. It is
gratifying to see.
We
are gratified; yet, we are also sad and sorrowful. Although we enjoy freedom at
this moment, many democracy advocates are in prison, being tortured and
devastated. The darkness, loneliness, and cruelty are not imaginable. The tears
that their beloved ones shed, the pain that their relatives suffer, are not
something we can fully realize. The word "sacrifice" is so cold and
shocking in this chilly winter. We hope that the Fourth Annual "Wei
Jingsheng Chinese Democracy Champion Prize" can express our respect,
admiration, support, and appreciation to those heroes, and also express our
appreciation and concern for their suffering family members.
The
sky of December is clear, grim, and cold. It indicates the coming of a severe
winter. But, it also tells us "if winter is here, spring cannot be far
behind." During this season, one appreciates all the more the warmth of
the fireplace on a cold snowy day; for the flames of conscience shall continue
burning lively, the flame never extinguished. We believe that the fire of Chinese
democracy, like the fire of a live volcano, can never be stopped by either snow
or storm, and will eventually bring a beautiful democracy sky!
Thank
you very much for listening.
Ciping
HUANG (signed)
Executive
Director
Wei
Jingsheng Foundation
Wei
Jingsheng Foundation fourth annual "Wei Jingsheng Democracy Champion
Prize" award announcement by its judging committee:
http://www.weijingsheng.org/report/report2007/report2007-12/WJSF4thPrize071205announcementA315-W169.htm
For
further information and detail, visit our website at: www.weijingsheng.org
or
contact us at HCP@weijingsheng.org or HCP0411WJS@aol.com or call
1-202-543-1538.
(The
Wei Jingsheng Foundation is grateful to Yike CHENG for her great contribution
of composing this dedication, and for her long time voluntary work and other
contributions to this Foundation.)
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中文版
Wei
Jingsheng Foundation News and Article Release Issue: A316-W170
魏京生基金会新闻与文章发布号：A316-W170
Release
Date: December 5, 2007
发布日：2007年12月5日
Topic:
Courage of Love, Flames of Conscience (Prize Dedication to Zhang Lin and Yan
Zhengxue as Awardees of the Fourth Annual "Wei Jingsheng Chinese Democracy
Champion Prize" by the Wei Jingsheng Foundation)
标题：爱的勇气，良知的光焰 (魏京生基金会第四届"魏京生中国民主斗士奖"对张林、严正学的颁奖词)
Original
Language Version: Chinese (Chinese version at the end)
此号以中文为准（英文在前，中文在后）
如有中文乱码问题，请与我们联系或访问:
http://www.weijingsheng.org/report/report2007/report2007-12/WJSF4thPrize071205dedicationA316-W170.htm
-----------------------------------------------------------------
爱的勇气，良知的光焰
-- 魏京生基金会第四届"魏京生中国民主斗士奖"对张林、严正学的颁奖词
最近，一位刚从大陆回来的朋友对我说，"现在的中国，简直成了欲望之国，人人都在金钱的大磨下粉碎着自己。"
中国在害病。这个病让空气污染、河流变臭；这个病造就了"癌症村"和"艾滋村"，让村庄没落、村民无声无息地死亡；这个病让矿井崩塌、民工惨死；这个病引发了假货伪货泛滥、诚信丧失；这个病加剧了贫富悬殊，极小部分富裕阶层腐败糜烂，普通百姓则生活日益艰辛；这个病也让民众变得噤若寒蝉、精神麻木......。害了病的国家里的民众，正面对着一碗遗忘、麻木的魔汤，喝下它，便会更快地被带入深渊，被割裂破碎还浑然不知。
这是中国害了半个世纪的"专制病"，这是不治之症，现在已病入膏肓。而专制者们一边为他们的成果洋洋得意，一边更加隐秘地加速迫害，想以此封住勇敢的嘴，扼杀善良的心。他们盼望有朝一日能够带着响尾蛇般的喜悦面容，观看无知无感觉的民众像孩童一样奔向各种世俗的诱惑。他们盼望道德在各方面颜面扫地，中国将来剩下的，要么是幸运的酒囊饭袋，要么是神情僵直、呼吸困难、被压进最小空间的大众，专制体制便因此可以坚如磐石地运转下去。
在这样的迫害里，中国的监狱如同一座看不见的焚尸炉，试图烧化、歼灭中国的民主精神。它恐吓着更多的人，以期大家在民主的大门前望而却步。望而却步的例子，历史上并不是没有过。上个世纪，许多正直勇敢的人们都在纳粹或新纳粹的集中营里一命归西。连最富有想像力、最具有批判精神的法国共和主义者，也因此普遍产生了忌讳和恐惧。
中国株连九族、满门抄斩的历史，也曾经让历代崇尚高风亮节、把精神看得比生命更崇高的中国文人，从此改变了他们豪放、有血性的声调。
但是，我知道，我相信，我永远坚信，总有那么一批人，坚韧地站立着，用自己的血肉之躯，顽强地抵抗着、阻隔着这种全民族的精神荒漠化，对抗着专制制度对民主精神的歼灭。他们如同稀有而顽强的绿色植物，在灰土、沙尘、饥渴和一片褐黄的欲望混乱的荒漠中，坚韧地挺立着。他们的人数，远远不到让人欣喜的庞大。但他们的存在，却洪钟般地提醒了我们：只有像他们那样活着的人，才不是精神囚犯，才没有灵魂的枷锁！
今天，又是一个十二月五日。每年的这一天，都是"魏京生中国民主斗士奖"的颁奖日子。过去的三年里，我们相继表彰了胡石根与刘贤斌（2004年第一届获奖者）、喻东岳、吴义龙、陈西（2005年第二届获奖者）以及郭飞雄、周志荣和林牧（2006年第三届获奖者）。这些获奖的民主斗士，有的已经去世了，有的被迫害致残致疯，有的仍然被关押在大牢里备受摧残，有的在困苦的境地里坚持民主抗战，时时受到人身安全的威胁。他们的存在，是我们民族的光荣和骄傲；他们的获奖，曾经激励了更多勇敢和清醒的人们，前赴后继地加入到民主行列里来。
今天，是第四届"魏京生中国民主斗士奖"的颁奖日子。和以往一样，这是我们借以对所有为中国民主做出重大牺牲的人们表达崇爱、敬仰、感激的日子，是我们希望用微薄的奖金给身处困境的人们一点具体帮助的时刻，也是我们向所有被牵连的家属、亲人们表达问候和感谢的机会。
今年的奖励将由张林和严正学两人分享。
张林先生现年45岁，安徽蚌埠人，曾就读于清华大学，目前正在狱中受到监禁和摧残。张林上大学期间，曾受到1978年民主墙运动的强烈影响，接受了民主理念和人权思想，从此成为坚定的民主主义者。他二十多年来如一日，坚强不屈、百折不挠，被中共专制政权抓捕、多次关押，四次深陷牢狱，迄今为止累计坐牢十三年。
张林先生积极参加八九民运，在安徽先后协调组建了许多学生和工人组织，被中共专制政府抓捕，冠以"反革命宣传煽动罪"而判刑坐牢。出狱后，他继续从事民运活动，先后组建过多个地下民运组织，并担任北京刘念春组织领导的"中国劳动者权利保障同盟"的全国联络人。为此再次遭到当局的拘捕，不经审判被判处"劳动教养三年"的囚禁。
1997年刑满释放的张林，获签证来到美国。他一到美国，就积极参加海外民运活动，并为魏京生基金会里的日常工作提供了大量帮助。他原本可以在海外安全度日，但为了更有效地促进中国的民主事业，他义无反顾放弃自由，秘密返回中国大陆，不幸身份暴露，遭到中共当局的再次抓捕和三年的关押。
2001年劳教释放后，张林已是人到中年，一贫如洗，一无所有。不仅如此，作为中共黑名单上的重要人物，他行动言论都受到监视。但他坚持民主运动的决心丝毫没有因此动摇，他选择了启迪启蒙民智的自由撰稿方式，继续进行民主活动。几年来，他发表了几十万字石破天惊的议论，抨击时政，大力宣传民主理念。同时他不辞劳苦，为未来中国民主事业做了许多奠基性的组织工作。2005年在赴京参加赵紫阳遗体告别的途中再次被捕，被定罪判刑5年。当年，张林先生在狱中绝食近五十天，抗议谴责中共的暴行。
值得一提的是，张林先生在被捕的前一年中，曾经花费了大量的精力来促进大陆的工人运动，帮助工人们了解维护自己正当权益的权力。大陆工人运动的状况，经过张林的努力，及时大量地传播给了魏京生基金会，也传播到了世界的各个角落。
严正学，1944年生，浙江台州人，他是画家、作家和行为艺术家，更是始终如一的民主斗士。他1989年进入北京圆明园画家村，从事独立的艺术创作，被推为村长。1993年他针对中国政府对行为艺术的苛刻条例，起诉北京市公安局暴力镇压民众，侵犯人权，随即于1994年被捕入狱。两年后严正学出狱，在北京举办"严正学狱中画展"，以此控诉中共政权的不人道。由于他坚持不懈地进行民告官的"行为艺术"，他多次被北京劳教委等十几个政府部门起诉。1999年他组织合法游行集会，公开进行反腐签名请愿和演说，因此于1999年6月再次被铺。
2001年，严正学"起诉政府卖淫"，被国内外媒体广泛报道，被称为"中国第一公益诉讼人"，成为大陆最负有盛名的行为艺术家之一。
2003年严正学应邀前往美国纽约举办《严正学狱中画展》，后在纽约从事艺术和民主活动。半年以后，为抗议浙江台州公检法黑骚扰和对艺术人士的迫害，返回中国大陆。2004年他带头发出了"呼吁立即废除劳改制度"的致胡锦涛、温家宝的公开信。他还积极为六四民运作辩护，"用艺术行为验证这个世界，愿在民族的灵魂中铸造永不倒塌的不朽丰碑。"（严正学语）
严正学坚持不懈的精神，让认识他的人深为钦佩。十多年来，他坚持用行为艺术为武器，宣扬民主理念，对抗不人道的政府，维护艺术的正义性，并四十多次帮助被欺压的百姓上告，一百多次为弱势群体辩护，为此，他丧失了最起码的生存权，无数次地遭受骚扰和迫害，被殴打致伤，险遭车祸的杀害，共遭拘捕入狱达十三次之多。2007年终于再次被冠以"煽动颠覆国家政权罪"的罪名陷入牢狱，被判刑三年。
张林和严正学两人有着许多共同的感人之处。首先，他们都是硬汉子，百折不挠。张林先生面对四次牢狱，严正学先生面对十三次被捕和判刑，都没有动摇过终身为中国民主献身的意愿。张林先生成年以后，竟有一半以上的时光是在黑暗的牢狱里度过的。但他每次获得自由以后，都义无反顾地再次投入民主运动。严正学先生也是如此。一个手拿画笔的职业画家，在人们眼里，好像是敏感、文弱、单纯的文人。人们惊讶地看到，画家严正学竟然如此执著，如此坚强，无论是跟踪、暗算、电击、殴打，还是逮捕、牢狱、甚至死亡，都不能让他抗议的声音变得微弱一分。张林和严正学，他们做为新一代勇敢的中国知识分子，没有在血雨腥风中飘摇，没有在皮鞭的恐吓中颤抖，为中国民运史书写了光辉的一笔。
张林和严正学两人的第二个共同的感人之处，是他们爱的勇气，良知的火焰。他们对民主理念有不懈的追求，他们都放弃了可以保持自由的海外生活，主动回到人权状况恶劣的中国大陆，亲身投入到民主战斗的第一线。他们这样的选择，基于多年来的读书和思考，以及对被剥夺了人权、身心受苦的大众的同情。可以说，对大众的爱和自己的良知，是指引他们在现代灵魂迷宫中保持正确方向的向导。张林和严正学两人向我们表明了什么是勇敢，什么是坚定，什么是理性。而这些都基于对中国的爱，对百姓的爱，基于在困境和混乱中维持自己的良知的基本要求。我们认为，对大众和中国的爱，并不仅仅是一种感情，而是一种生活原则。它是我们在貌似强大的专制政府面前获得勇气的最根本的源泉。因为这样的爱，一个人才能够抛弃对自我的爱惜、对名利的追求，才能够具有心甘情愿做出牺牲的心愿。
我们每个人面前时时刻刻都面临着选择。有三种选择的形式。第一种是在威逼下做出不得已的选择。这样的选择虽然让人惋惜，但我们无法谴责，毕竟我们不能要求人人都当烈士。第二种选择，是当人们有可能根据自己的自由意志做出选择的时刻。这个时刻，爱和良知，可以引导人们做出积极正确的抉择。如同索尔仁尼琴所号召的，有良知的人，至少可以做一件事情，那便是保持沉默，不给恶势力推波助澜。但是，第三种情形的选择就十分不容易了--那是在暴政的压迫下，在可能失去自由甚至生命的关头，在孤独无助甚至不被人理解、不为人所知的情形下所做的选择。这个时刻，烈火见真金。这样的选择，是为了中国大众的利益不惜牺牲自己而做的可歌可泣的选择，它如同良知的光芒、爱的火焰，给我们带来了巨大的鼓舞，树立了感人的榜样。张林、严正学先生就是这火焰的一束。我们今天表彰他们，就是为了记住这个火焰，发扬光大这个火焰，并鼓励更多的人变成这样的火焰，让民主之火熊熊地燃烧起来。因为只有长期不断地燃烧，才能够彻底烧跨、摧毁专制制度的根基。
每年的颁奖日选在十二月五日，是为了纪念二十九年前发生的事情。
1978年的今天，魏京生先生在西单民主墙发布了划时代的"第五个现代化-民主"，敲响了中国现代民主的钟声。为此，他以自己青春、健康和自由的巨大代价，在牢狱里度过了十八个春秋。每年这个时候，我们都缅怀这个历史钟声，回顾和纪念从那以后在中国民主道路上前赴后继的勇士们。令人欣慰的是，这样的勇士层出不穷。我们看到，一批又一批的优秀民主人士，宁可疾呼而死，不肯沉默而生。一批又一批勇敢斗士，坚强不屈，顶天立地，他们正用自己智慧的头脑和血肉之躯，和专制政权进行有力的抗争。这是非常让人欣慰的！
我们欣慰，但我们也难过和痛心。当我们还幸运地享受着自由的时候，许多勇敢的民运人士正身陷囹圄，过着备受摧残的日子。那样的黑暗、冷酷、孤独，不是一般人可以想象的。而他们的家属和亲人所遭受的牵连，所流淌的眼泪，也不是局外人可以完全体会的。"牺牲"这两个字眼，在冬季的寒冷中，变得更加触目惊心。我们只希望，第四届魏京生民主斗士奖的颁发，能够在一定程度上表达我们大家对牺牲者的崇敬、爱戴、支持和感激，也表达我们对遭受牵连的家属亲人们的感谢和安慰。
十二月的天空，是清朗、严峻、寒冷的天空。它预示着可能的严寒的到来。但，也预示着"冬天已经来了，春天还会遥远吗"？这样的季节，有冬日最初的寒冷，但也有冬日最温暖的火炉，因为良知的火焰将一直延续着，生生不息，越烧越旺。中国的民主之火，如同暴雨风雪扑不灭的火山之火，将燃烧出通红的民主的天空！
谢谢大家的倾听。
魏京生基金会执行主任
黄慈萍 (签署)
2007年12月5日
魏京生基金会“魏京生中国民主斗士奖”评委会有关第四届“魏京生中国民主斗士奖”的颁发公告：
http://www.weijingsheng.org/report/report2007/report2007-12/WJSF4thPrize071205announcementA315-W169.htm
更多详情：www.weijingsheng.org
联系方法：hcp@weijingsheng.org 或 hcp0411wjs@aol.com 电话：1-202-543-1538
（魏京生基金会首发，请注明出处。www.weijingsheng.org）
（程以克为本次颁奖词的主要撰稿人，魏京生基金会对她的工作表示感谢，并感谢她多年来的义务劳动及其它重要贡献。）
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魏京生基金会及中国民主运动海外联席会议以推动中国的人权与民主为己任。
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