The testimony of the great nonviolent dissident is the highest contribution to humanity in the last (sterile) 500 years of Chinese history. A priest from North China offers an elegy in memory of Liu (and his wife).

Beijing (AsiaNews) - "The day will come” when Liu Xiaobo's name “will light a torch and enlighten this earth." This is the conclusion of the elegy we publish today, written by a priest in northern China, in memory of the great dissident who was left to die of cancer and condemned for "subverting state power" only because he called for non-violent social, political and religious reforms in the Chinese society. Faced with the regime’s reckless and violent all-powerfulness, Liu Xiaobo’s testimony shines as the greatest "contribution to humanity" in the last "500 years" of Chinese history.

 

There is nothing left,

Except the numbers

Related to your life:

55,
64,
89
08,
17
713,
61[1].

In the end, you left words of love,

I'm not afraid of death.

She already trembles for life,

So let her go

And let me die.

 

The wall is high

And the lark cannot fly over it,

It can only chirp.

 

To complete the remembrance:

On the evening of July 13th, after the celebration of Mass, I unexpectedly urged the faithful to sing the song "The Repose of the Souls". When I got back home, I heard about your death. I did not think that singing 'The Repose of souls' was for you. Although we do not sing well, we sincerely hope for you to achieve eternal rest.

On July 6, a picture of a sick Liu and his wife pictured “Look, two figures who are suffering!" Someone asked without reflecting: Two blind people? What are they doing? Who are they? How are they? In China, too many people do not recognize you. But in fact, except for your name, how much do I know about you?

Certainly, great souls accompany the endless sufferings of life.

Some say that for the past 500 years China has not given any contribution to humanity.

Today, China has offered to the world a man, a person whose name can be included in the history of human civilization.

Tonight, that name enlightens the darkness of the human heart. We fear it might be only for a moment. But I believe the day will come when this name will light a torch and enlighten this earth!

 

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[1] The "numbers" mentioned in the poem are the main dates in Liu Xiaobo's life: 1955, his birth; 64 and 89, June 4, 1989, the date of the Tiananmen massacre; 08, is 2008, the year of his arrest, but also the document that led to his arrest for "subversion", Charter '08; 17 and 713, the date of his death: 13 July 2017; 61, the years he lived.

• china
• religious freedom
• liu xiaobo
• charter 08
• political reforms
• liu xia
• death