As many know Jackie Chan’s recent remar …

As many know Jackie Chan’s recent remarks at the Bo Ao forum about CHinese people needing to be controlled against the chaos and messiness of democracy has aroused controversy around the world. The following is an open letter signed by twenty mainland Chinese intellectuals criticizing Jackie’s remarks. First is my rough translation followed by the original. Let me know if you see any glaring mistakes.

Dear Mr.-resident-of-a-free-island-but-of-an-unfree-mind Jackie-Chan:

The Chinese ancients said, many people who are happy are not aware of their own blessings. You were born and raised in Hong Kong, free Hong Kong, which gave you so many advantages, which allowed you to become the world
renowned martial arts star that you are today, but from where you now stand, you cannot appreciate the value of freedom–in fact, being ungrateful and taking freedom for granted are perhaps the necessary conditions of your success.

Think about it: If fate had it that you were born on the other side of the river, you probably wouldn’t even have had the chance to speak those inanities at the Bo Ao Forum. Like those who claim that Taiwan’s democracy is too messy and chaotic,
you are the ignoble dregs of the Chinese people.

You asked at the Bo ao fofrum: “is having freedom good, or not having freedom better? I am curently confused and torn about it–if you are
given too much freedom, then you’ll end up like Hong Kong is today, which is too chaotic, or like Taiwan, which is much the same. I’ve slowly come to realize that Chinese people need to be controlled. If we aren’t somehow controlled, we will just end up doing whatever we want to do.”

These thoughts are a symptom of modern man’s escape from freedom. If you want to keep on singing at the CCTV NEw Year’s Gala or want to keep on shaking hands and don’t have time to understand what the “escape from freedom” means, perhaps we could recommend
Erich Fromm’s “Escape From Freedom”. As movie star that’s influential among young people and who has long had a concern for politics and the political, we welcome hour continued concern and engagement with the development of constitutional freedoms for the Chinese people, but we hope that you will read some more books. If you are poor to the point that you don’t have any money, just give us your mailing address and we’ll send you a copy of “Escape from Freedom.”

Your name is Cheng Long, and this is one of the things that we love about you. Just as we are fans of Taiwan wuxia novelist Gu Long–because we are all descendants of the dragon (long). However, being a descendant of the dragon
is not a privilege, but a responsibility, an obligation. And taking responsibility for our own freedom is a heavy responsibility, but it shows in our desire to be more than just slaves and servants. When we have attained our freedom, we might find that aren’t so perfect, and that we have many an onerous responsibility and burden, and that our friends may be equally imperfect or immoral, and decide to live by different rules or ideals than we. Freedom implies that we must tolerate their fundamental difference from ourselves, including their immorality, their reckless or irresponsible forms of speech and action–and in such a situation, we have to learn to set an example for others, rather than simply find ways of exercising greater control over them. If we want to escape from the uncertainties and responsibilities entailed by this freedom, can we really call ourselves descendants of the dragon? If we are afraid of freedom, afraid of tolerance, afraid of responsibility, then we might resemble poisonous snakes more than flying dragons. A dragon cannot fly freely without making some kind of effort, without using its strength.

So have we become dragons or just mere insects?　This is a problem, and one that we cannot avoid. After you made your remarks we might have to recommend that you change your name to Cheng Chong (insect), and though you might not do so, in our hearts this is what we will call you henceforth. These are the rules and principles that we play by–whenever we talk about you, you will be known
as Cheng Chong (the insect)–unless you somehow find the backbone to stand up for freedom and the responsibilities it brings.

自由岛居民不自由民成龙先生：
中国古人说，生在福中不知福。您出生生长于香港，并且自由的香港，赋予您极好的条件，让您成为国际武打影星和国际名流，可是如今你是，当了人上人，却不知自由之珍贵，
却忘恩负义，背信弃义，丢掉根本，不顾念自由制度，才是您今天辉煌的主要条件之一。设想一下，你如果上天让你投胎于香江的另一岸，恐怕您在博鳌论坛大放厥词的机会都没有。与台湾批评民主自由太甚，给台湾民主带上乱像帽子的人一样，你们都是中华民族的败家子。
您在博鳌论坛上说，“有自由好？还是没自由好？我现在已经很混乱。太自由了，就变成香港今天这个样子，很乱；而且变成台湾这个样子，也很乱。我慢慢觉得，我们中国人是需要管的。如果我们不被管束，我们就会仅仅做我们自己想做的事情。”
这完全是现代社会逃避自由的典型病症。如果您一心想在央视春晚晚会上再歌颂，舍不得你那一只被握过的手，而不知道什么是逃避自由的话，我们很乐意向你推荐弗洛姆的《逃避自由》。作为对年轻人影响非常巨大的，并且关心政治谈论政治的国际影星，我们欢迎您继续关心政治谈论政治，关心中华民族的自由宪政前景，但是我们希望你多读书。如果您穷得只剩下了钱，那么给我们您的邮政地址，我们给您邮寄一本《逃避自由》。
您的名字叫做成龙，这是我们曾经非常喜欢您的原因。正像我们非常喜欢台湾武侠小说家古龙一样。因为我们都是龙的传人。龙的传人，并不是一种特权，而是一种责任。而自由是一种极为沉重的责任，它的好处在于我们不愿意作为奴才，作为奴隶，才显现出来。当我们获得自由，我们就会发现，我们自身是多么不完美，要承担的义务真多，我们的朋友是多么不符合道德，与我们有着截然不同的生活方式，这让我们皱眉头。自由就意味着容忍别人的不道德，别人的怪异，别人的放诞，就意味着我们要担负起责任，要以身作则，而不是呼吁管束他们。如果逃避自由，那还是龙的传人么？害怕自由，害怕容忍，害怕责任，那是毒蛇而不是飞龙。在自由的天空里面，龙要飞翔，那是要付出体力的。
成龙还是成虫？这是个问题，这无从回避。您说完这段话之后，我们建议您改名成虫，你不改，但是在我们的心中和我们的口中，这个名字是改定了。成为我们的潜规则。当我们一提到您，张口就会是“成虫”。除非你担负起捍卫自由的责任。

祝好！

发起签名人
陈永苗 （北京 后改革学者）
王俊秀 （北京 后改革学者）
于浩成 (北京 公安部群众出版社前社长 著名法学家)
邓聿文 （北京 学习时报副编审）
高超群 （北京 社科院副研究员，后改革学者）
李文子 （北京 后改革学者 达沃斯全球青年领袖）
古川 （北京 后改革学者）
张大军（ 北京 后改革学者）
吴木銮( 香港 评论员 )
李智英（北京 著名社会活动家）
赵国君 （北京 著名社会活动家）
田路 （北京 著名财经作家）
张学军 （北京 媒体从业者）
刘建永（ 成都 后改革派学者）
李慷 （北京 网络专家）
曹云飞 （湖南 独立学者）
长风 ( 北京 北国之春站长)
陶勇 （北京 记者）
周鸿陵 （北京 著名社会活动家）
朱中原（北京 文化学者）