There is a venerable tradition in China of petitioning rulers;
and an equally ancient tradition for rulers to punish those who
dare petition them. Bi Gan, an argumentative minister of the
Shang Dynasty (12th Century BC) so infuriated the tyrant Zhou,
that Zhou, saying, "They tell me sages have seven holes in
their hearts," ordered the minister's chest cut open so he
could see for himself.
But appeals to the throne were not always so hazardous. From
early days a drum was placed outside the court which could be
beaten by petitioners who wanted the court's attention. The
marble huabiao pillars on either side of Tiananmen were also a
reminder to emperors to accept petitions with equanimity.
If Tiananmen Gate has traditionally been the place where the
pronouncements of China's rulers have been read to their
people, Tiananmen Square is where in the 20th Century the
people made their voices heard to the rulers. Just outside
Tiananmen Gate stand two huabiao, sculpted pillars. They derive
from the practice of leaving a wooden board, the "wood of
direct speech" (
feibang zhi mu
), outside the palace on which common people could write any
complaints they had about the court. This wooden plaque was
eventually fixed to decorative columns, but even after they
became more ornamental than functional, the huabiao were still
supposed to symbolize the people's right to speak up against
official injustice. Reality was often quite different.
Walking past Tiananmen Gate as a child I would look up at the
huabiao which reached up into the clouds. At the time, I
thought only that they were pretty. I had no idea what they
stood for. Now, after much reading, I understand. The huabiao
are a debased symbol, tools for expression that have lost their
function. They are the tears of China; the huabiao is China's
cross.
Li Ao, a Taiwan-based historian, 1980
[From Geremie R. Barmé and Linda Jaivin,
New Ghosts, Old Dreams
(New York: Random House, 1992).]
