In memory of Liu Binyan

Liu Binyan, one of today's boldest Chinese social critic and freedom fighters, was congratulated on his 80th birthday Feb. 7, 2005 in a ceremony at Princeton University with a Festschrift entitled 不死 的 流亡 者 (The immortal exile), with contributions by a number of exiles writers and poets.

Below is the English version of my preface to treat scripture. Liu Binyan died on 5 December 2005.

This volume has been dedicated to Liu Binyan, one of the boldest fighters for freedom in the modern history of China. I first met Liu Binyan at an international conference on Contemporary Chinese Literature at Jinshan, near Shanghai, organized in 1986 by Wang Meng, the then Minister of Culture of the People's Republic of China. Most of the attendants to this conference gave papers, addressing function various aspects of Contemporary Chinese Literature. The one exception was Liu Binyan, who chose to deliver a passionate attack on the repression of sex education in China. I was tremendously impressed by his bold presentation of gruesome facts, and I did feel that Liu Binyan with this lecture had entered into an inner exile.

Since our first meeting in 1986, I have had the privilege of meeting Liu Binyan on several occasions in Sweden. His bearing and his courage never failed to make a great impression on me. For a number of years his "China Forum" provided me with invaluable insights into the contemporary Chinese society.

"Exile" is something that may be imposed upon you by the mighty powers above. Some, like the legendary Qu Yuan, gave their lives in order to protest their innocence. Others, like Liu Zongyuan (773-819), Han Yu (768-824) and Su Dongpo (1037-1101), accepted their fates with equanimity and continued to create works of lasting value. Others, like the great scholar Gu Yanwu (1613-1682) and the magnificent painter Bada Shanren (1626-1705) chose an inner exile, Which enabled them to continue their research and their creative work, without compromising their Integrity.

To some, exile is a fashion of life. When Bei Dao received the 1990 year's Tucholsky Prize, awarded to a writer in exile by the Swedish Association of Writers, he stated as follows:

A poet actually starts on his road to exile the day he starts writing poetry. Exile and poetry are there fore nearly synonymous terms. The poet constantly challenges the prevailing culture and the prevailing language.  That means he never has any true abode. those in power who try to control culture and the language must therefore consider him an enemy of the state. In consequence his outer exile confirms his inner state.

With this volume, Chinese writers, poets and scholars into exile wish to pay homage to a friend who to a higher degree than anyone else has preserved his integrity in adverse times and who has fought, and continues to fight for the dignity of man.

I consider it a great privilege to have been asked to write a preface to a book, dedicated to a man whom I greatly admire.

Goran Malmqvist