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Then & Now | As Hong Kong’s public libraries are stripped of books once deemed inoffensive, simple certainties offer solace
- Books vanishing from Hong Kong libraries, media commentators turning silent – when you can’t read or say what you want, your inner life changes for the worse
- A nocturnal frog chorus is a reminder that today’s pond life – and their slimy spawn – will soon rot unlamented; a consoling thought that makes sleep easier
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At the University of Hong Kong, long ago, the ancient Chinese chronicler Sima Qian, and his epic Records of the Grand Historian, were first introduced to me by a superb research scholar – Australian, ex-Cambridge – whose broad-based historiographical knowledge and insight was unsurpassed.
In this monumental work, that chilling phrase “Burn the Books and Bury the Scholars” described despotic Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s methods of asserting permanent control over China’s historical record – a grim reminder of contemporary attacks on “historical nihilism”.
In recent weeks, scores of hitherto inoffensive books suddenly vanished from Hong Kong’s public library shelves; conflicting official explanations have offered little clarification.
Meanwhile, certain media commentators, and popular cartoonists who specialise in current events and personalities – all obvious targets for some hatchet-eyed, humourless, foul-mouthed spinster’s rectification – have cautiously decided to keep their bemused smirks, gleeful cackles and quizzically raised eyebrows to themselves, and called it a day.
When the unhappy fates of various unfortunates tripped up by today’s “red lines” are contemplated, decisions to fall silent become widespread. When lifelong habits of reading what one wishes and saying what one thinks become unviable, one’s inner life inexorably changes, too – and not for the better.
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