About the Book
An Authorlink Top Five Book of 2020
As a fearless poet and prolific essayist and critic, Liu Xiaobo became one of the most important dissident thinkers in the People’s Republic of China. His nonviolent activism steered the nation’s prodemocracy currents from Tiananmen Square to support for Tibet and beyond. Liu undertook perhaps his bravest act when he helped draft and gather support for Charter 08, a democratic vision for China that included free elections and the end of the Communist Party’s monopoly on power. While imprisoned for “inciting subversion of state power,” Liu won the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. He was granted medical parole just weeks before dying of cancer in 2017.
The Journey of Liu Xiaobo draws together essays and reflections on the “Nelson Mandela of China.” The Dalai Lama, artist and activist Ai Weiwei, and a distinguished list of leading Chinese writers and intellectuals, including Zhang Zuhua, the main drafter of Charter 08, and Liu Xia, the wife of Liu Xiaobo, and noted China scholars, journalists, and political leaders from around the globe, including Yu Ying-shih, Perry Link, Andrew J. Nathan, Marco Rubio, and Chris Smith illuminate Liu’s journey from his youth and student years, through his indispensable activism, and to his defiant last days. Many of the pieces were written immediately after Liu’s death, adding to the emotions stirred by his loss.
Original and powerful, The Journey of Liu Xiaobo combines memory with insightful analysis to evaluate Liu’s impact on his era, nation, and the cause of human freedom.
Table of Contents:
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Unity of Knowledge and Action
Editor’s Note Joanne Leedom-AckermanForeword The Dalai LamaThe Passion of Liu Xiaobo Perry LinkLiu Xiaobo’s Spiritual Heritage Zhang ZuhuaDemocracy’s Iron Man Cui WeipingOn the Causes of Controversies about Liu Xiaobo Yan JiaqiA Brief Biography of Liu Xiaobo Yu Zhang
Why Lui Xiaobo Matters: Black Hand behind a Red WallOn the Liu Xiaobo Incident Yu Ying-ShihLiu Xiaobo’s Death as an Event of Human Spirit Teng BiaoLiu Xiaobo, a Moral Giant of China’s Democratic Transition Yang GuangFor Whom the Bell Tolls Hu PingLiu Xiaobo and His Political Views Bao TongLiu Xiaobo on the Front Line of Ideas Joanne Leedom-AckermanHe Walked the Path of Kang Youwei and Shed the Blood of Tan Sitong Wang DanRemembering a Hero and a Martyr Carl GershmanChinese Culture’s Backbone Qian Yuejun
Youth and University Days: Innocent Hearts to Dark Horse
Liu Xiaobo’s Resistance Shao JiangThe Last Idealist Wang WeiI Look Forward to a Magnificent Farewell Ai XiaomingUnfinished Journey Mo ZhixuLiu Xiaobo Turned Radical Suffering into Calm Su XiaokangA Formidable Personality Jean-Philippe BÉja
Tiananmen Square and After: No Enemies
In Memory of My “Best Friend,” Liu Xiaobo Zhou DuoLiu Xiaobo, Who Has Ascended the Altar Yi PingThe Values of Peace and Reason Are Eternal Wu ZuolaiLiu Xiaobo and His View of “No Enemies” Jin ZhongLiu Xiaobo, An Eternal Monument Pan YongzhongPoems Shi TaoPoems Xu LinThe Well after Its Name Has Left: In Memory of a Departed Poet Zi KangMessage to Liu Xiaobo and Liu Xia Tiananmen Mothers
Politics, People, and PEN: Facing up to and Resisting Reality
Our Last Parting Unexpectedly Became Our Final Farewell Wang DebangMissing My Good Friend Liu Xiaobo He DepuMourning Little Brother Xiaobo Cary S. HungSome Recollections of Liu Xiaobo Zhao DagongA Prisoner on His Road Ye DuLiu Xiaobo and I Liu DiThe Most Forgiving Opposition Zheng YiThe Liu Xiaobo I Knew Cai ChuXiaobo, Tonight I Light a Cigarette for You Emily WuLiu Xiaobo, Me, and Independent Chinese PEN Center Qi JiazhenBeing-toward-Death: Remembering Xiaobo Xiao QiaoChina’s Free Spirit Qin GengThe Final Farewell Yu JianrongProfound Memories to Be Cherished Forever Yan JiaweiTwofold Grievous News, Nothing Can Top It Wang Jinbo
Charter 08: No Hatred
Liu Xiaobo’s Self-Cultivation in Suffering Xu YouyuDeeply Concerned for Liu Xiaobo, on the Verge of Death Jiang QishengOn One of Liu Xiaobo’s Ideological Legacies Pei YiranMourning Liu Xiaobo Sun WenguangWhat Liu Xiaobo Means to Hong Kong Albert Ho Chun-yanWhy I Follow Mr. Liu Xiaobo Lu YangLiu Xiaobo Is a Hero to Hongkongers Tsoi Wing-MuiSalute Liu Xiaobo! Zhao Changqing
Nobel Peace Prize: Empty Chair
The Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 Norwegian Nobel CommitteeA Good Choice of Nobel Prize for Xiaobo Sha YexinThe Spirit of Liu Xiaobo’s “No Enemies” Will Exist Forever in Japan Makino Seishu and Wang JinzhongChina Will Face Dilemma and Inconsistency between the Nobel Prizes for Literature and Peace: One Thought after the Death of Liu Xiaobo Hori Takeaki
Being-toward-Death: Torch in the DarknessXiaobo and His Era Yu JieA Life like a Symphonic Poem: Farewell to Liu Xiaobo Tienchi Martin-LiaoLiu Xiaobo Had a Dream Kaiser Abdurusul ÖzHunAscending the Altar: Mourning Liu Xiaobo Chen KuideTwo or Three Things about Liu Xiaobo Ai WeiweiLiu Xiaobo’s Death and Chinese Regime’s Fear Andrew J. NathanLiu Xiaobo’s Fight for Freedom Louisa Greve“They Killed Him”: Denial of Medical Care in China and the Literary Conscience James TagerRemembering Liu Xiaobo Hu JiaElegy for Liu Xiaobo Liao YiwuRebirth Tsering WoeserMy Brother, Why Have You Gone to Die? Du DaobinPoems Li Yongsheng
Conclusion: Heart to Heart
Poems Liu XiaPreface to Liu Xia’s Photo Album Liu Xiaobo
Appendix
Xiaobo, a Meteoroid in Darkness Independent Chinese PEN CenterLiu Xiaobo-An Exceptional Life, Always Remembered PEN InternationalChinese Publisher’s Afterword Wang TianchengTo Those Gathered for the Book Launch of Essays Commemorating Liu Xiaobo and Dialogue on His Legacy Marco Rubio and Chris SmithLetter of Thanks to PEN International Congress Liu XiaAdditional Statements Books by Liu Xiaobo Liu Xiaobo’s Awards and Honors
Chronology
Charter 08
I Have No Enemies: My Final Statement Liu XiaoboList of Contributors
About the Author :
Joanne Leedom-Ackerman is a novelist, short story writer, and journalist. She is vice president emeritus of PEN International and served as chair of PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee while Liu was imprisoned. Leedom-Ackerman later served as the International Secretary of PEN International in the same years Liu Xiaobo was president of the Independent Chinese PEN Center (ICPC). Yu Zhang is a Chinese citizen based in Sweden. As a scholar, editor, and translator, he is the coordinator of the ICPC’s Writers in Prison and the Freedom to Write Committee and served as secretary-general of the ICPC during the years Liu was president of the center. Jie Li is a Chinese American librarian, editor of the Democratic China English website, and a former volunteer for the ICPC. Tienchi Martin-Liao is a Chinese German author, editor, and translator and the president of the ICPC.
Review :
“One of the strengths of The Journey of Liu Xiaobo is the probity and conviction of its articles, all but five of which were translated from Chinese into English. Many of the authors didn’t just know Liu intimately but clearly display a deep knowledge of Chinese politics and culture.”-Ajay Singh, South China Morning Post Magazine “This invaluable book shows the range and depth of Liu Xiaobo’s interests, concerns, and thoughts. It helps us know this remarkable man intimately. As a document, this book bears another kind of witness, both personal and historical.”-Ha Jin, author of Waiting, winner of the National Book Award “The late Nobel Peace Prize laureate comes alive in these intimate recollections and thoughtful reflections, contributed by dozens of his friends and admirers-many of them, like Liu, heroes of the long, hard Chinese struggle for democracy.”-Andrew J. Nathan, Class of 1919 Professor of Political Science at Columbia University “Through this book Liu Xiaobo lives on and will surely have increasing impact!”-Jerome Cohen, senior fellow for Asia Studies, Council on Foreign Relations “This collection reminds us of Liu’s immense contributions to the cause of democracy and human rights in China. The Journey of Liu Xiaobo provides a moving and informative account of Liu’s evolution from an iconoclastic literary critic to a noble political thinker and fearless freedom fighter.”-Minxin Pei, Tom and Margot Pritzker ’72 Professor of Government and George R. Roberts Fellow, Claremont McKenna College “Provocative, challenging, elegiac: the essays in The Journey of Liu Xiaobo capture the intellectual and activist spirit of the late literary critic and democracy icon. With contributions from a Who’s Who of China’s democracy movement and its global supporters, the essays speak to Liu’s role in political debates during his life and carry that legacy into the future. The collection is a fitting tribute to a man who hoped he would be ‘the last victim of China’s endless literary inquisitions.’”-Ken Roth, executive director, Human Rights Watch “The Journey of Liu Xiaobo traces the life of the talented writer, thinker, and activist whose commitment to freedom for himself and his society set him at odds with the formidable Chinese regime. Through these essays of friends and scholars, the reader learns about Liu Xiaobo from his youth, follows his actions and his thinking as it develops into a commitment to nonviolent change. Though Liu Xiaobo is no longer with us, his ideas and his vision endure and will influence generations to come.”-Jennifer Clement, president, PEN International
