By Shen Youlian; translated by May-Lee Chai

LISTEN
 • Edward Albee read from the following as part of Bringing Down the Great Firewall of China: Silenced Writers Speak out on the Eve of the Olympics.

On May 20, 2003 at 3 p.m., three plainclothes security officers came to my work unit and tricked me into leaving my office. They then identified themselves and told me that I shouldn’t make a sound as they shoved me into an ordinary-looking car. They spent the day interrogating me. Just before 12, they took out the arrest warrant and officially charged me with “encouraging the overthrow of state authority.” The concrete evidence for my criminal activity was, first, that I had written a book entitled The End of Marxist Theory and had mailed it to Hong Kong and Guiyang to be sold and distributed. And secondly, I had written two essays, one called “Kicking Out Marx” and the other called “The Third Kind of Feudalism.” Because I had put them in the mail and they had been intercepted, they became my “criminal activity.”

On May 21, they searched my home and confiscated all my manuscripts, my letters, seven diaries and notes, 52 computer disks, 492 books, computer, typewriter, radio, my bank book and cash. Among the materials confiscated was an unfinished essay I was writing entitled “The Communist Party Ought to Practice Communism” and a copy of an English-language BBC television broadcast called “Marxism and Chinese Economics,” which especially intrigued them. They added these to my “crimes.”

In the afternoon, they put me into a car and gave me some clothes and blankets from my family. Two official, government A-license plate cars escorted me to Guiyang Railroad Office Number Two Jail.

When I arrived, a one-armed police officer came in and took all my clothes and threw them on the floor. Then this one-armed guy stomped on them. (As it was raining outside and he’d followed me inside, his shoes were covered with mud.) He used big tongs to pull all the buttons off my clothes and then he tried to poke holes in them. He split my pants and waistband, took my belt, then emptied my pockets and threw everything away, including medicine I had with me because I had a cold. Finally he told me to put on the clothes. Then he put my blankets on the floor and stomped all over them. Afterwards, he told me to pick them up. I wore my ruined, filthy clothes and followed another guard outside. I had to hold my pants up with one hand while I carried my other clothes and blankets in the other.

I was sent to cell number 9. Altogether there were 12 of us in my cell, including thieves, pickpockets, drug addicts, con artists, and thugs. The oldest among us was 65, the youngest 14. Four of the prisoners were orphans who had become thieves and pickpockets to survive.

Some prisoners had been there for seven to eight months, others for five to six. The warden was always trying to squeeze something out of the prisoners over the 20 days I was there. I had to hand over 300 yuan. Those prisoners who stayed the longest had to pay the most. I don’t think the Nazis had even thought of this scheme. In all, I gave the guards 435 yuan when I first came and told them to give the prisoners a good meal, and so everybody looked at me differently and didn’t beat me up. I was even allowed to sleep on a wood board rather than the floor.

Inside the cell there was a big hole used for a toilet. There were no beds or blankets, just a wood board raised several inches off the ground. Only designated people could sleep on the board. Everyone else had to sleep on the floor. Every meal included half a dirty potato. At the bottom of our bowls, there was grit and dirt, and the soup looked black. The drinking water was even worse. Multicolored oil floated on the surface.

The cells had no shower and no time allotted for exercise. There was a hole in the ceiling covered with a cement and steel cover, but a little light and fresh air could get through. Although there was a sign in the prison that said we had time to read the newspaper, if anyone had one, he was beaten.

During my incarceration, the National Security Office held a trial and I raised the issue of my being a political prisoner. I said that China is a member of the United Nations and has to follow the U.N. Charter, and we are a signatory of the U.N. human rights covenant. I asked that all the prisoners’ rights be improved, including better food and living conditions. They replied: our country does not recognize political prisoners. Although my opposition to Marxism was not the same as murdering someone or arson, it was still a criminal offense. As to our country being a member of the U.N. and international law, they said that has no relevance to what we are doing here.

I didn’t know if by “here” they meant the jail or China.

Once after court, a National Security agent and a guard took me back to jail. In order to get to my cell, I had to pass a cage with a dog in it. Whenever I passed, the dog barked. I was very careful to cling to the wall because I was afraid the dog would bite.

This time my luck ran out, and the guard opened the dog’s cage. The dog barked and jumped toward me. The security agent and the guard immediately turned their backs. I looked at that vicious dog and I knew that even as I yelled for help, no one would do anything.

When I was young, I had been bitten by a dog, so I knew that if you run, a dog will just chase you faster than ever. Besides, there was no place for me to run now. So I just stood still. Suddenly the vicious dog was on me. It opened its big mouth as it lunged at me. I threw up my hands to protect my face. It had its paws on my clothes, but the dog didn’t bite. He didn’t seem to be satisfied however, so he jumped and lunged and barked. Gradually I stopped shaking, and although I was afraid and my heart was racing, I remained still.

The vicious dog kept barking and jumping and snapping at my trousers, then finally it turned around and ran away.

Then the guard came over and, pretending concern, asked, “Were you bitten?” I responded coldly, “No.” The guard feigned disbelief . “Your luck’s still good!”