Wei Jingsheng Foundation News and Article Release Issue: A1018-W664

魏京生基金会新闻与文章发布号：A1018-W664

Release Date: June 11, 2017

发布日：2017年6月11日

Topic: Stories About the "June 4th" -- Wei Jingsheng

标题：关于“六四”的故事 -- 魏京生

Original Language Version: Chinese (Chinese version at the end)

此号以中文为准（英文在前，中文在后）

Note: Please use "Simplified Chinese (GB2312)" encoding to view the Chinese parts of this release. If this mail does not display properly in your email program, please send your request for special delivery to us or visit:

http://www.weijingsheng.org/report/report2017/report2017-06/WeiJS170611on64storiesA1018-W664.htm　which contains identical information.

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Stories About the "June 4th"

-- Wei Jingsheng

Many young people do not understand what is called "June 4th". A lot of middle-aged people know about it, but do not have a clear understanding of what was going on. With the pressure of the authorities, most people do not dare to talk about the "June 4 massacre", thus it is not easy to explain it clearly. Now I want to explain it for everyone, and tell some stories by the way. It is said that modern people do not like to listen to reason, instead just like to listen to the stories. The best stories are the ones one could see on screen, even if it is faked -- life is an entertainment after all. But I do not have this ability, I am unable to make videos, but I can only tell the truth. As one of my elders said: "We the people of Shandong do not tell lies".

In the academic language, the full name of "June 4" is: A tragedy that happened on June 4, 1989, when Deng Xiaoping used the army to slaughter the Chinese people. A more popular term overseas is: "the June 4 democratic movement" or "the June 4 massacre"; while the non-Chinese habitual term is: "Tiananmen Square democracy movement" or "Tiananmen Square massacre". Of course, the actual events were not limited to Beijing's Tiananmen Square, but happened nationwide in China, including Tibet and Xinjiang.

The terms by the Communist regime are more ugly. It began with being called "counter- revolutionary riots"; later even the Communist regime felt wrong and changed it into "the turmoil" and "the June 4 incident". Then they thought it still did not sound good, so it was changed to "the June 4 storm". Finally, they simply called it "the storm" and so on; the state of guilt does show well in this game of name changing.

These years, I have often run into old and new comers from China who told me: We know who you are -- you are the leader during the Tiananmen Square democracy movement. That made me need to explain to them thousands of times: in fact, at that time I was still in prison, not in Tiananmen Square. But then when I think about it, I realize that I really was related in a relevant way - not only was it initiated due to me, even my sister was disqualified from her overseas study and was prohibited from leaving China because the police had the reason that she was a relative of a person who was related to "the turmoil".

Although she explained that her brother was still in jail without taking part of that turmoil, that did not work. It cannot be negotiated to change this category if they claim you are a relative of a person associated with turmoil. Uh hum, this is like the rule that was described in a TV series: when we said you are, then you are even if you are not; when we said that you are not, then you are not even if you are. This TV series is called "The Humpback Prime Minister Liu", which was very popular in 1990's after June 4, 1989. Now I cannot find it on the Internet. There is also a line in the TV series which was able to impress the hearts of people in those times, called "everyone has a scale in their hearts."

I was the person who received the longest sentence due to the Democratic Wall Movement in 1979 and was taken as a representative figure. In 1989, I had spent exactly 10 years in jail, with 5 more years remaining. The folk language called the time in jail "squatting in jail" because the prisoners must squat when the guards were speaking. But I did not squat, because I did not admit that I was a criminal and I do not admit that I was wrong. Thus I did not squat; it was out of discussion, unless they forced me physically. That is something we do not have to talk more here.

When I was in the Qinghai prison, because the instruction from Mr. Hu Yaobang I was able to buy a sheep every autumn to improve my diet. During the winter, there is no place to buy meat because the sheep that would be slaughtered were already slaughtered in the autumn. In September of 1988 as the autumn arrived both Kuai Dafu and Han Aijing (both were political prisoners related to Cultural Revolution) were released, and I was left alone in that small prison. So I was also the only person who needed to buy a sheep.

But the young police quietly told me: Old Wei, you do not have to buy sheep this year, you could go home on October 1st. I said this is nonsense because Deng Xiaoping is still alive. He said that the bosses above asked for you to get prepared -- ready to leave at any time. After October 1st, I asked him: what is going on? October 1st had past. He said: let us wait, and you will go home on New Year Day. As the new year arrived, I asked again. Now he was not so confident anymore: perhaps it would be the Spring Festival; anyway the bosses said to prepare for your departure, although we do not know when. I would not ask him anymore.

It did not take long before I discovered that the political atmosphere was not quite normal in Beijing. Then Hu Yaobang died, and students in Beijing began to take to the streets. Then it was millions of people taking to the streets every day to support these students. Then there was the occupation of Tiananmen Square. Then there was a hunger strike and sit-in protest. Then the army moved into the city until the slaughter by guns shown on the television.

Later, I saw that Liu Xiaobo appeared on television and said that he did not see anyone get killed. I felt that there are too many cowards within the Chinese. Later I met with Liu Xiaobo and he directly explained to me: "I was not brave as you are, I was really afraid." So in my heart I forgave him, after all it was due psychological reasons that he was afraid. We can only blame the Communist Party for being so cruel. In fact, cowards are also the majority among the non-Chinese, even though they appear to be tough guys in front of the camera lens only because their government is not cruel.

In 1993, in an effort to bid for the rights to host the 2000 Summer Olympic Games, I was released half a year ahead of my sentence. By then, I learned that it was because of the open letters of Professor Fang Lizhi, Professor Xu Liangying and many elites in the cultural and technological circles calling for my release that made Deng Xiaoping unhappy, thus postponing and eventually canceling the earlier release order.

The information from the very insider and direct sources also told me: Deng Xiaoping really wanted to release me in advance, because he did not want to see the whole world scold at him every day for my time spent in jail. Only because those open letters made him angry he hesitatedly changed his mind. His character is sort of like a rebel: when you pulled him he would retreat; when you pushed him he would turn around, unless you are a bigger official than him, such as the "wise leaders" Mao Zedong and Hua Guofeng.

Thus those open letters played the opposite effect, and caused the second heated debate about me within the Communist leadership. The first time was in 1979, when they had some furious argument regarding if I should be tried and if the Democray Wall should be closed, which resulted in that finally I was not sentenced to death - thus not only was my life spared but it also made a case for a political prisoner to be spared of death sentence for the first time. This second controversy led directly to the death of Hu Yaobang and the division within the Communist Party, followed by a large-scale democratic movement. So we can say that I was used twice on a large scale; but I like to be used this way. At least that shows that I am useful, instead of being an unexamined waste.

As I was in the Qinghai prison, watching the TV when the students kneeled in front of the Great Hall of the People, I heard an older police officer sigh: Old Wei, if you were there it would be just fine; these students are too young to oppose that gang of old men. At that time I did not think I had a way to change the situation, but was only in the design of many possibilities. Now after 28 years, there are a lot of people reviewing history and summing up lessons. I will talk about the lessons I think of next time.

To hear Mr. Wei Jingsheng's related commentary, please visit:

http://www.weijingsheng.org/RFA/RFA2017/WeiJS170530on64stories.mp3

(Written and recorded on May 30, 2017. Broadcasted by Radio Free Asia.)

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中文版

Wei Jingsheng Foundation News and Article Release Issue: A1018-W664

魏京生基金会新闻与文章发布号：A1018-W664

Release Date: June 11, 2017

发布日：2017年6月11日

Topic: Stories About the "June 4th" -- Wei Jingsheng

标题：关于“六四”的故事 -- 魏京生

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/report2017/report2017-06/WeiJS170611on64storiesA1018-W664.htm

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关于“六四”的故事

-- 魏京生

很多年轻人听不懂什么叫做“六四”。很多中老年人知道个大概，也不太清楚究竟是怎么回事。摄于当局的压力，大多数人不敢谈论“六四大屠杀”，也就不太能讲清楚了。现在我为大家解释解释，顺便讲讲故事。据说现代人不喜欢听道理，只喜欢听故事，最好带视屏的故事，假的也没关系，生活就是娱乐嘛。我可没这个本事，不但不会上视屏，也只会讲真事儿。像我的一位长辈说的那样：俺山东人学不会讲假话。

用学术语言来解释，“六四”的全称是：一九八九年六月四号，邓小平动用军队屠杀人民的一场悲剧。海外比较通俗的说法是：六四民主运动或者六四屠杀；老外习惯的说法是天安门民主运动或者天安门大屠杀。当然，实际的范围不止在北京的天门广场，而是在全国范围，包括西藏、新疆。

中共的说法就比较难听了，开始叫做反革命暴乱；后来他们自己也觉得理亏，改成了那场动乱，六四事件；想想还是不好听，又改成了六四风波。最后干脆叫做那场风波云云，做贼心虚之态跃然纸上。

这些年老碰到老华侨和新出来的人说：知道，您就是六四天安门的领袖。说得我哭笑不得，几千遍几万遍地解释：其实我那时候还在监狱里呢，没在广场上。后来细想想，确实和我有关，不但开始就有关，连我妹妹都被取消留学资格禁止出境，警方的理由就是动乱家属不得出境。

尽管她解释说：我哥还在监狱里没参加动乱。那也不行。说你是动乱家属没商量：你不是谁是，嗯哼。这真像电视剧里说的那啥规律：说你是你就是，不是也是；说不是就不是，是也不是。这电视剧叫做“宰相刘罗锅”，“六四”以后非常流行。现在网上查不到了。剧里还有一句台词很能打动那个时代的人心，叫做“人人心里都有杆秤”。

我是一九七九年民主墙运动被判刑时间最长的人，被当作了代表性人物。八九年时刚好蹲了十年，还差五年没蹲完。民间俗语把坐牢叫做蹲监狱，是因为狱警们说话必须让犯人蹲着。不过我没蹲过，因为我不承认是罪犯，也不承认有错误。所以就是不蹲着，也没商量，除非你按倒我。这是闲话按下不表。

我在青海监狱的时候，因为胡耀邦先生有指示，所以每年秋天可以买一只羊改善伙食。牧区的冬天买不到肉，秋天就把该杀的羊都杀了。八八年的九月秋天到了，蒯大富和韩爱晶都放出去后，小监狱里就剩我一个人了。所以该买羊的也就剩我一个人了。

年轻的小警察悄悄地告诉我：老魏，今年不用买羊了，十一回家。我说你胡扯什么呢，老邓还活着呢。他说反正上边让做好准备，随时可能动身。过了十月一号我问他：怎么回事儿？十一已经过了。他说：再等等，再等等，回家过新年。到新年我又问，他不太有信心的说：也许是春节吧，反正上边说让准备，不知道什么时候。我也就不再问了。

没过多久，我就发现北京的政治气氛有些不对了。再后来就是胡耀邦逝世，北京的学生们开始上街。之后是每天都有支持学生的百万市民上街游行，之后就有占领天安门广场，再之后还有绝食静坐，军队进城，直到在电视上看见开枪屠杀。

后来我看见刘晓波在电视上说我没看见死人，就觉得中国人还是软骨头多。再后来见到刘晓波，他直接解释说我没你那么大胆子，是真害怕呀。我心里也就原谅他了，毕竟生理原因不能承受，只能怪共产党太残忍。其实外国人软骨头也占多数，你看他们在镜头里那么硬气，是因为他们的政府不残忍。

一九九三年因为要申办2000年的夏季奥运会，提前半年把我放出来了。我才知道原来是因为方励之，许良英教授和许多文化界、科技界的老先生们呼吁释放我和所有政治犯，惹得邓小平不高兴，才推迟乃致取消了释放令。

来自非常内幕和直接的消息来源也告诉我：小平同志确实想提前释放我，他不想因为我蹲监狱让他天天被全世界臭骂。只是因为那些公开信让他震怒，所以才犹犹豫豫改变了主意。他的性格就是打着不走，拉着倒退，除非你比他官大，比如老毛和英明领袖华主席等。

所以那些呼吁信起了相反的作用，并且引起了党内因为我的第二次激烈争论。第一次就是一九七九年，他们为了要不要审判我和关闭民主墙而吵得不可开交，最终我没被判死刑，捡了一条命而且开创了政治犯不死的案例。这一次的争论直接导致了胡耀邦的死亡和党内的分裂，然后是一场大规模的民主运动。可以说我被人家大规模地利用了两次，不过我喜欢这样被利用。这至少说明我有用，不是浑浑噩噩的废物。

我在青海监狱里一边看着电视里学生在人民大会堂前下跪，一边听着老警察们叹息说：老魏，你要在那儿就好了，这些学生娃太嫩，不是那帮老家伙的对手。当时我可不觉得我有办法改变局面，只是在设想着很多种可能性。如今已经二十八年了，也有很多人在回顾历史，总结经验。我想我在下一次节目中会向大家讲讲我认为的经验教训。