Summary: As the 30th anniversary of The Tiananmen Square Massacre is drawing near, the Chinese government has recently banned a famous Hong Kong Cantonese song jan4-gaan1-dou6人間道 (The World's Tao), composed by James Wong (1941- ) and originally sung by Jacky Cheung in 1990, as the theme song of the Hong Kong Cantonese movie, The Chinese Ghost Story II (directed by Tsui Hark, written by Lam Kei-to, starring Leslie Cheung, Joey Wong, Michelle Reis, Jacky Cheung). Part of the lyrics reads, "The young people are angry, all the gods and ghosts in the cosmos screaming. How come the old landscape's turned into a bloody seething sea? How come the old way home's become a way of no return?" (Trans. Chapman Chen). The movie may be even more subversive. It insinuates Deng Xiaoping's accomplices in suppressing Tiananmen Square Massacre, idol worship of Communist China, censorship and literary inquisition, Pan-Great-China libtards, etc.
Deng Xiaoping's Accomplices in Suppressing Tiananmen Square Massacre
It tells about a young scholar (played by Leslie Cheung) in ancient China, who helps two young graceful ladies to rescue their father, a loyal official who has been set up and is being escorted to Beijing for trial. Eventually, they have to fight an evil Rasputin-like Royal Monk, who turns out to be a gigantic tank-like centipede in disguise. (Lam Kei-to the playwright admitted in 2002 that the centipede was deliberately made tank-shaped.) A number of high-ranking officials, known as Hon. Yang, Hon. Jiang, Hon. Li, have become empty shells with their flesh eaten up by the Royal Monk. The three names are suggestive of the 3 high-ranking CCP cadres, Yang Shangkun (1907-1998), Jiang Zemin, and Li Peng, who had assisted Deng Xiaoping (1904-1997) to suppress the Tiananmen Square Massacre.
Idol Worship of Communist China
Towards the end of the film, the evil Monk disguises himself as Buddha. "People like to worship idols. Why should you go against people?" he questions a righteous, capable Taoist who manages to see through him. "People are used because they are ignorant. We won't worship monsters like you. Cut it out!", the Taoist replies. This reminds people of the CCP trying to cultivate personal worship of their leaders, especially President Xi, who has made himself president for life.
Censorship and Literary Inquisition
At the beginning of the story, Leslie Cheung (1956-2003) is mistaken as a fugitive and thrown into jail where his cellmate is an old scholar who tells him the following story, "
I pursued knowledge and became a learned doctor of philosophy. Unexpectedly, when I wrote travel notes, I was accused of leaking State secrets. When I wrote history, I was accused of satirizing the current regime with ancient stories. When I annotated Master Sun's Art of War, I was accused of inciting to commit rioting. When I wrote myths, I was accused of encouraging superstition. Finally, I could only write a biography for someone. But then that man was arrested for revolt, and I was given a life sentence." Eventually, the old scholar helps Leslie Cheung to escape in a way reminiscent of Alexandre Dumas' Count of Monte Cristo.
Pan-Greater-China Libtards
The pig-headedly loyal framed-up official sighs, "There are too many villains next to His Majesty so that His Majesty could not see the folks' sufferings. Take my head to move His Majesty so that His Majesty would understand our loyalty." "Nonsense! Even when you're beheaded, the emperor will still adhere to his foolish way without awakening," Leslie Cheung reprimands him. This reminds us of pan-Greater-China libtards in Hong Kong and China who blindly believe that the CCP will improve and democratize China.
Author: Chapman Chen
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