Lin Chueh-min-min Wants Nothing More than a Ballot

Lin Chueh-min-min Wants Nothing More than a Ballot
United Daily News editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
March 29, 2011

Today is the 100th anniversary of the Huanghuagang Uprising. It is also Youth Day. When one thinks of Huanghuagang, one invariably thinks of Lin Chueh-min, and the deeply felt, tragic letter he wrote his wife just before his death. It added an exclamation point to the nationalist revolution that will endure through the ages.

Both sides of the Taiwan Strait commemorate the Xinhai Revolution. Both sides commemorate Lin Chueh-min. On Taiwan, TV channels broadcast Lin Chueh-min commercials. "In his letter, he called out to his beloved wife 49 times. Three days later, he died at the Battle of Huanghuagang, and never returned. He was only 24 years old." On the Mainland, the Guangdong Repertory Theatre staged a "Letter to His Wife." It debuted last March at the Taipei City New Stage. Blood red letters filled the air. The scene left the audience incredulous.

The greatness of the Xinhai Revolution was not merely that red-blooded patriots such as Lin Chueh-min overthrew a tyranny in which "the land reeked with the scent of blood, and the streets ran wild with jackals and hyenas." More importantly, the revolution ended two thousand years of tyranny. Hopefully future generations will no longer need a Lin Chueh-min to sacrifice himself resisting tyranny. Hopefully people will simply exercise their right to vote in order to remain masters of their nation and of their government. The greatness of Lin Chueh-min is that he may have made future Lin Chueh-mins superfluous.

The Xinhai Revolution had an indelible impact on both sides of the Strait. On Taiwan, the Republic of China left behind the legacy of the Three People's Principles, i.e., "nationalism, democracy, and the peoples livelihood." This was why Taiwan has been able to survive and develop. This was why the two sides have been able to engage in cross-Strait exchanges and strive for win-win symbiosis. On the mainland, the bankruptcy of the "dictatorship of the proletariat" and of "class struggle" reaffirmed Sun Yat-sen's status as a "revolutionary forerunner." The Xinhai Revolution touted "nationalism, democracy, and the peoples livelihood," It provided a political and ideological alternative. Otherwise, the portrait of Sun Yat-sen would not be displayed opposite that of Mao Zedong, in Tiananmen Square, every November. Even indigenous political activists on Taiwan, beginning with Japanese occupation era figures Lo Fu-hsing, Lin Hsien-tang, Chiang Wei-shui, were inspired and guided by the Xinhai Revolution, and made it "Taiwan's Xinhai Revolution."

The Xinhai Revolution was an historical event nearly erased from our collective memory. On the Mainland, in 1949, the Peoples Republic of China replaced the Republic of China. The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution replaced the Nationalist Revolution. The Communist Revolution nearly erased the Xinhai Revolution from our memories. On Taiwan, the "nativization movement" disseminated outright distortions. 2/28 Incident rhetoric hijacked the history of the Xinhai Revolution. De-Sinicization, needless to say, de-emphasized the Xinhai Revolution. But history has retraced its steps. Once again, Republic of China citizens swear allegiance to the Xinhai Revolution. It has also become a common denominator for the two sides of the Strait. Lin Chueh-min has become the symbol of our shared history, and the basis for consensus building.

Then again, 100 years have passed. On Taiwan, the Xinhai Revolution's goal of "one man, one vote" has already been realized. Young people no longer need to follow the example of Lin Chueh-min. They need only acknowledge, appreciate, and exercise their right to vote. On the mainland, they praise the Xinhai Revolution's ideals. But it would be better if they worked toward the goal of universal suffrage. They praise Lin Chueh-min's heroic martyrdom. But it would be better if they gave young people the vote. It would be better if they did not make young people today experience the same despair Lin Chueh-min experienced a century ago.

Merely commemorating Lin Chueh-min as someone who protested corrupt government is not enough. Lin Chueh-min and others embarked on a sacred mission. They established a system for future generations, in which everyone would have a vote. Today both sides are commemorating the Xinhai Revolution. Why not make the goal "giving everyone the vote?"

Mainland China's ultimate goal should be to give everyone the vote. Taiwan's problem is how to ensure that everyone cherishes and makes good use of their votes. Young people on Taiwan today no longer need to be Lin Chueh-min-Mins. But consider the revolution from the perspective of "nationalism, democracy, and the peoples livelihood." The world and the nation are far more complex than they were during Lin Chueh-min's day. During Lin Chueh-min's day, right and wrong were clear cut. Young people could sacrifice their lives for justice. But youth on Taiwan today face competitive pressures from globalization, unpredictable cross-Strait coopetition, Blue vs. Green domestic politics, and the mendacious rhetoric of politicians. A correct understanding of "nationalism, democracy, and the peoples livelihood," individually and collectively, is even more difficult than during Lin Chueh-min's day. Young people on Taiwan today may not need to shed blood and sacrifice their lives like Lin Chueh-min. But the duty imposed upon them is just as heavy, intellectually and emotionally, than the duy imposed upon Lin Chueh-min. They too must make important choices. They too must sacrifice themselves for the ones they love. They too must sacrifice themselves for humanity.

The inscription on the Huanghuagang memorial mourns martyrs such as Huang Hsing-cho and Lin Chueh-min. It reads, "Seventy-two youths in their prime, shed crimson blood in pitched battle. Four hundred trillion sons of the nation, looked on as autumn rains fell upon golden petals." Spring winds and autumn rains. Crimson blood and golden petals. Today's cross-Strait issues can be reduced to a single phrase. Enfranchise the disenfranchised. It is no longer necessary to be a Lin Chueh-min. It is only necessary to ensure that everyone able to vote, feels the same compassion that Lin Chueh-min felt, and cherishes and makes full use of his vote.

林覺民要的只是一張選票
【聯合報╱社論】 2011.03.29

今天是黃花崗起義一百年紀念日，也是青年節。想到黃花崗，就想到林覺民，一聲意映卿卿如晤，深情又淒絕的一喚，為整個國民革命留下了一個激盪千古的感嘆號！

兩岸皆在紀念辛亥革命，兩岸亦皆在紀念林覺民。在台灣，電視廣告播著林覺民，「他在信中呼喚愛妻四十九次，三天後黃花崗之役，他再也沒有回來了，得年二十四歲。」在對岸，廣東話劇團排演了一齣《與妻書》，在去年三月還在台北市新舞台劇場公演，漫天撒下血染的信箋，令人低迴不置。

辛亥革命的偉大，不止是如林覺民者以鮮血推翻一個「遍地腥羶，滿街狼犬」的惡政，最重要的是革命之目的在終結二千餘年專制，希望後世不須再有殉身抗暴的「林覺民」，人民只要用手中的選票即可作國家與政府的主人。林覺民的偉大，正在希望後世不必再有「林覺民」。

辛亥革命對兩岸皆有不可磨滅的影響。在台灣，中華民國所傳承的三民主義「民族／民權／民生」，既是台灣之所以能生存發展至今日的根本追求，亦是在兩岸關係中尋求雙贏共生的主要憑藉。在大陸，則當「無產階級專政」及「以階級鬥爭為綱」的教條破產，孫中山做為「革命先行者」，及辛亥革命標舉的「民族／民權／民生」，儼已成政治思想上的替代或補充，否則孫中山遺像不會每年十一出現在天安門毛澤東像的對立面。即使對於台灣的本土政治運動言，始自日據時代羅福星、林獻堂、蔣渭水等的民主追求，當然也是受到辛亥革命的感召與啟迪，成為「台灣的辛亥革命」。

但是，辛亥革命一度卻是一個幾乎要被塗銷抹煞的歷史事件。在大陸，一九四九年中華人民共和國取代了中華民國，無產階級革命取代了國民革命，辛亥革命幾幾乎就要被中共塗銷、抹煞。在台灣，隨著本土化運動的扭曲，「二二八論述」欲凌駕取代「辛亥革命論述」，「去中國化」當然就走向「去辛亥革命化」。然而，當歷史的腳步逐漸從這一條岔路走回頭，辛亥革命又成為中華民國建立國家認同的題材，亦成為兩岸的共同語言，林覺民則又成了召喚歷史與建構共識的典型人物。

但是，畢竟已經一百年了。在台灣，辛亥革命當年追求的「人人都有一張選票」已經實現，不必再要青年們效法林覺民，只要青年們知道珍惜及並善用這張選票即可。在大陸，則與其禮讚辛亥革命的理想，不如朝「給人人一張選票」的目標去努力；與其歌頌林覺民的壯烈，亦不如努力設法給青年一張選票，勿使當代青年仍有一百年前林覺民式的抑鬱。

若只看到林覺民等對抗昏庸腐敗的政府，這是不夠的；林覺民等更神聖的追求，是要建立制度，欲為後世人人爭到一張選票。今日兩岸共同紀念辛亥革命，何不即以「給人人一張選票」做為目標。

大陸的目標應在努力設法終究要給人人一張選票，台灣的問題則在如何珍惜及善用這張選票。其實，今日台灣青年雖可不做「林覺民」，但就「民族／民權／民生」的角度來說，其面對的世界局勢與國家情勢可能較林覺民時代更為複雜。林覺民那個時代，是非判然，青年可以為正義而殉身；但今日台灣的青年，在全球化的競爭壓力、競合莫測的兩岸關係、藍綠撕裂的國內政治，及買空賣空的政客語言中，如何正確體認「民族／民權／民生」個別層面及綜合思考的是非曲直，反而可能較林覺民的時代來得困惑難解。這一代台灣青年，不必做流血殉身的「林覺民」，但其在理智與情感上所承負的國家使命未必輕於林覺民當時；因為，皆是一個「吾充吾愛汝之心，助天下人愛其所愛」的重大抉擇。

黃興悼林覺民等黃花崗烈士文曰：「七十二健兒，酣戰春雲湛碧血；四百兆國子，愁看秋雨濕黃花。」春風秋雨，碧血黃花，今日的兩岸問題可以化約作：給沒有選票的人人一張選票，不必再作「林覺民」；讓有選票的人人以「林覺民」那種聖潔悲憫的心情，知道珍惜並善用那張選票。