Cai Dingjian: lawyers questioning the legal system is normal

Recently, Guangzhou lawyer Zhou Yuzhong wrote to the NPC Standing Committee, asking to conduct an unconstitutionality review of the Supreme People's Court's "Explanation concerning issues of applicable law for trying cases of compensation for bodily harm," and this was said to be, by some netizens, "hype." Earlier, a few legal experts jointly asked the court to conduct a judicial psychological review of Qiu Xinghua; and Professor Zhou Ze motioned for the NPC Legal Work Committee to ask to rule that regulations allowing toll fee collection be made illegal; still earlier, lawyer Qiao Zhanxiang sued the Ministry of Railway for raising ticket prices; these events were all ridiculed as "hype." In the eyes of certain people, people who do good for the public must have personal motives: if it's not for profit, it must be for fame.
Though I don't agree with lawyer Zhou Yuzhong's views, I don't believe his questioning and challenges are insignificant, nor do I have reason to criticize him as "putting on a show."

"Questioning" is normal for citizens of a society

One should say that if people dare to stand up and question the laws and government, this indicates civilization and social progress. This could never have occurred in the old society, where the "nation" was identical with the "family," because ordinary people could not possibly "question" government officials, considered the "parents" of the people. But in a society where citizens are truly the owners, the "owners" often question the doings of the "servants." Therefore, this action of continuously questioning and challenging the legality of laws, regulations and government behavior, is normal for a democratic society of free citizens.
In all countries, these questions are often raised by some law professors or lawyers, because of their profession. They are people who specialize in studying laws and upholding laws; they are good at discovering problems and defects in laws. This is like doctors can often discover human diseases. A healthy society needs people like this to challenge the problems of the legal system. Only in this way can the legal system continue to perfect itself. Even if their views are not always correct, they are harmless.
I have heard some jokes about certain regional politics, for instance, "One man does things, while two men watch, and three men create trouble for him." This may be excessive, but it does to a certain extent describe certain traditional malaise of our society. China traditionally is a very selfish society. We have idioms like "Sweep the snow in front of your own gate, don't mind the frost on other's roofs," and Lu Xun's words "Enjoy your own world in your small bungalow, never mind what season it is outside." "Few do things, while the multitude slander" is a special danger in our society. Especially when our social value system is seriously distorted by a materialistic point of view, when people measure others, they come up with various hypotheses about people who do try to do good for the public. Their logic is: men are all selfish, so why are these people trying to do good for the public? They must have their motives. Therefore, when we understand these people's nature, we shouldn't be surprised when people who try to be responsible toward society come under attack.

The hype theory is an attempt to squash public benefactors

To do good for society, one must be "selfless and noble minded." This is a lofty ideal. But we cannot demand all those who do good for society be flawlessly virtuous. We should treat people who do good for the public as we treat normal people. We should not reject them because they have some personal interests or motives. Incidents like "Wang Hai's anti-fake campaign" and "lawyer Zhou Yitai's litigations" that appeared in China in recent years, are all commendable. And these have often been questioned and denounced by our countrymen in the name of "morality." This social and cultural reason is a major cause of Chinese society's long-term lack of public do-gooders. Why are good people always the target of questions and suspicions? Not because the denouncers are noble minded, but because they evaluate others with their own selfish and dark minds.
To cultivate in Chinese society a culture and environment for paying attention to public affairs, and to bring more people into participation and promotion of public affairs, we must attach and change the bad habits of our nation (habits of doing nothing oneself while criticizing those who do from a dark corner), and cultivate the public in having an open mind and tolerant spirit for those who take part in public affairs.
In western culture, it is considered very normal and rational to link self-benefiting motives and personal gain with public causes. Whether in economics, politics, or the social realm, this is all true. For instance, the patent system links the protection of individual interests with encouraging innovation and inventions, so that society can reap huge benefits. In the political arena, through the election system, a politician's personal admission is linked with serving the people. In the social realm, doing good for the public usually implies more pay-out and less returns, so if some people do this for personal fame or gain, what's abnormal about it and who can criticize that? People who do good for the public, do so for a good objective, they do it legally, the result is beneficial to the public, so it's a good cause. One certainly should not criticize it but promote this in a big way. People who criticize small details from the "high moral ground," and people who denounce it with a dark mind are all trying to squash public benefactors.

European intellectuals have a tradition of participating in public affairs

In Jan. 2005 when I visited Germany, in a coffee house in Hamburg some professors from Hamburg University and I talked about the topic of intellectuals. They said that in Europe, intellectuals are extremely important for promoting social progress and development. They define intellectuals as people with an independent spirit and with opinions; people who seek the social values of freedom, equality, and justice; people who are public-minded and love humanity; people who have a critical spirit and take an active part in public affairs. Intellectuals are not just writers, archaeologists, philosophers or natural scientists who are experts in their fields. Therefore, European intellectuals all have the historical tradition of paying attention to society and taking part in public affairs. Europe has produced many great thinkers, and has become the cradle of modern civilization. Even people like Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who had many flaws in his personal life; his flaws did not damage his greatness or people's respect for him.
Questioning social problems and the legal system is a lever for perfecting the legal system and promoting social progress. In our society, people who question are not too many but too few. Chinese society has wasted too much time and energy on "in-fighting" over progress. For the healthy growth of a citizen society, we must denounce such public opinion.

by reporter Cai Dingjian