The following entry about the recent spate of violence in Chinese kindergartens and primary schools appeared on Han Han’s blog on May 2. It has since been removed, although a message appears to signal readers of the forced removal, which has attracted thousands of comments from visitors. The original entry can still be found on certain other forums, such as China Elections and Governance Online.

Children, you’re spoiling the old men’s fun!

By Han Han

Translated by Jennifer Grace Smith

The children at a kindergarten in Taixing, Taizhou city, have been slashed up, with 32 people injured and an uncertain death count. Since this news came so soon after the news of the attacks at Nanping kindergarten, I believed at first that the reports were about the same school.

In these most recent abnormal murder cases, the killers all chose kindergartens and elementary schools as their targets. I believe that in the hearts of many people who seek retaliation against society, killing in kindergartens and elementary schools has become in vogue, because in the process of killing people, the killer encounters the least resistance, is able to kill the greatest number of people, and is able to inflict the greatest amount of pain and terror in society. It has become the most effective way of avenging oneself against society. Apart from Yang Jia, almost all of the killers chose to start by killing those who were weakest. In a society that has no release valve, killing the weakest members of society has become the only release. I would advise deploying the security that is currently protecting all the local governments in the country to protect our nursery schools. A government that can’t even keep children safe doesn’t need so many people to protect it.

Social injustice and unfairness are major impetuses for these murders. Yes, we should (as stated by Premier Wen Jiabao during the Two Sessions) “make fairness shine more brilliantly than the sun.” But the sun does not come out every day. Haven’t our dark days and black nights become a little too frequent?  The big talk about making fairness shine more brilliantly than the sun is not all that big.  Actually making the sun hang above our heads, every minute of every day—now, that would be big.

In the Taizhou kindergarten murder case, the news media has been controlled. These children’s births were untimely, and their deaths are even more untimely. To those officials in the relevant departments, this incident comes as an unpleasant noise interrupting the festive atmosphere (of the opening of the Shanghai Expo).  All we know is that in the Taizhou kindergarten case, 32 people were injured. The government and the hospital have continuously emphasized that not one person has died. But word on the street has it that many children have died. Whom do you think we should trust? If we trust the government, then why did they prohibit parents from seeing their children? The hospitals and the news have been blocked, and there haven’t been any photos or videos of the children.  Moreover, when a killer uses a knife to hack at 32 people, and not a single one dies, well then, was he trying to kill people or perform surgery on them?  As for believing the rumors, well, rumors are always exaggerated. We have neither images nor facts, so we can’t believe the rumors either. When we search for Taizhou online, all that comes up is “The Three Recent Lucky Events in Taizhou,” dated April 30.

I am just so astonished that the Taizhou government, by closing off information, closing off the hospitals, controlling the media, prohibiting visits, and shifting public attention, has unexpectedly succeeded in directing people’s anger against the killers into anger toward the Taizhou government itself.  You may think that the government has a certain objective in these actions, but it doesn’t really. Besides wanting to coordinate with the Shanghai Expo’s theme of “Songs of Harmony,” only inertia is driving the government’s reaction.  It’s the same reaction the government has when dealing with similar situations, its seven-step song. The seven-step song goes like this: you’re eating and drinking when all of a sudden Something Happens—1) conceal, 2) isolate, 3) force out the media, 4) issue bans, 5) issue statements, 6) pay for the damages, 7) set it afire.  Then, go back to your meal. Their methods for dealing with the problem aren’t much more noble than those of the killers. No wonder you see on the internet that kindergartens are hanging banners that say, “Injustice has a head, and debt has an owner; go out the door and turn left to find the government.”

In little more than a month, there have been murder cases on five school campuses, two within one week, with the Taizhou incident on April 29 and the Weifang incident on April 30. I don’t want to investigate the social reasons for these incidents. I just want to tell everybody, right here, that when the story of a person breaking into a kindergarten to slash up 32 children can’t become news, you have all been slashed as well. Not even one paper can report on this, because a few hundred kilometers away a grand meeting is being held, and hundreds of millions of fireworks will be released, while at the same time, in your old hometown of Taizhou, they want to hold the International Tourism Festival, the trade fair, and the OCT opening ceremony—those “three blessed events.”

Maybe, in the eyes of all those old farts, you are killjoys, intent on spoiling the big party.

But among all of us poor children, it is you who are poisoned by contaminated milk, it is you who are injured by bad vaccines, it is you who are killed in the earthquakes, it is you who are burned to death. When the adults’ rules make problems, it is you against whom those affected will pick up a knife to avenge themselves. Just like the Taizhou government says, I wish that you had all been injured with no deaths. The elderly are neglecting their duties; I wish that after you grow up, you will not only want to shelter your own children, you will want society to shelter everyone else’s children as well.

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孩子们，你们扫了爷爷的兴

作者：韩寒

来源日期：2010-5-2

泰兴幼儿园中的小孩也被人砍了，32人受伤，死亡情况不明。这个新闻因为离开上一次南 平幼儿园袭击的新闻太近，我甚至一度误以为是同一个幼儿园。

在最近的变态凶手杀人事件中，他们都选择了幼儿园和小学，相信在很 多想报复社会的人心中，去幼儿园小学杀人成为了一种时尚，因为在杀人过程中，你将遇到最少的抵抗，杀掉最多的人，造成民间最大的痛苦的恐慌，是最有效的报 复社会手段。除了杨佳以外，几乎所有杀手都挑选了向弱者下手。这个社会没有出口，杀害更弱者成了他们唯一的出口。我建议把全国地方政府门卫间里的保安们抽 调去保护幼儿园，孩子都保护不了的政府不需要那么多人保护。

这些杀人事件的产生很大原因是这个社会不公正，不公平。是的，让公 平正义比太阳还要有光辉。但太阳不是每天都出。我们的阴天和黑夜是否稍微太多了一些？所以，提出让公平正义比太阳还要有光辉并不伟大，做到让太阳分分钟都 挂在你头顶上才伟大。

在泰州幼儿园杀人事件中，新闻被控制了，这些孩子们生不逢时，死更不逢时。在相关部门的认识里，在这喜庆 的气氛里，这事当属杂音。我们只知道，泰州幼儿园杀人事件中，受伤32人，政府和医院一再强调，无一死亡，但是坊间又传说，死了多个孩子。你说我应该相信 谁呢？相信政府吧，那为什么他们禁止家长见到孩子呢？至今还封锁着医院和新闻，没有孩子的照片和视频，况且一个杀人用刀劈了32个人，结果一个没死，那他 到底是在杀人还是在做手术呢，也太小心了。相信传闻吧，毕竟传闻都是喜欢往夸张了传的，我们无图无真相，也不能相信。于是我一搜索泰州，出现的新闻居然是 ——《泰州近日三喜临门》，日期是4月30日。

我只是非常的诧异，泰州政府通过了封锁消息，封锁医院，控制媒体，禁止探望，转 移视线，等手段，居然成功的将人们对于杀手的愤怒转移到了自己身上，这是何苦。你以为他有什么目的，其实不是的，除了要配合世博会《和谐欢歌》以外，这只 是惯性，是政府处理类似事件的习惯，是七步曲：吃饭喝酒到一半，出事了——隐瞒，隔离，撤媒体，发禁令，发通稿，赔钱，火化——继续吃饭喝酒。他们处理问 题的手段不比凶手高尚多少，也难怪在网上看到有幼儿园挂出横幅——冤有头债有主，出门左转是政府。

短短的一个多月内，五起校园 凶杀案件，短短的一周以内，就发生了两起，4月29日，泰州，4月30日，潍坊。我不想去探讨其中的社会原因，只想告诉大家，也就在这里，一个人冲进幼儿 园砍了32个小孩是不能上社会新闻的，32个加起来才超过一百岁的孩子，你们被砍了，连个报纸都不给你上，因为在几百公里以外，召开了一个盛会，那里光烟 花就放了上亿，同时在你们的家乡泰州，要召开国际旅游节，经贸洽谈会和华侨城开业典礼，正三喜临门。

也许在那些爷爷们眼里，你 们，是扫兴的。

但是，我们可怜的孩子们，奶粉毒害的是你们，疫苗伤害的是你们，地震压死的是你们，被火烧死的是你们。就算 是成人们的规则出了问题，被成人用刀报复的也是你们。我愿望真的像泰州政府说的一样，你们全部都只是受伤，无一死亡。年长者失职了，愿你们长大以后，不光 要庇护你们自己的孩子，还要让这个社会庇护所有人的孩子。