Fu Xiaoqing (, born 24 August 1941), better known by her pen name Dai Qing (), is a journalist and activist for China-related issues; most significantly against the Three Gorges Dam Project. She left the Chinese Communist Party after the bloodshed of 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre and was thereafter incarcerated for ten months at maximum security facility Qincheng Prison. Dai is also an author who has published many influential books, articles, and journals.

Early life and education

Fu Xiaoqing was born 24 August 1941 in Chongqing, Sichuan. Her father was Fu Daqing, an activist from Jiangxi who had studied Russian in Moscow and participated in armed rebellions in Nanchang and Guangzhou; her mother, Feng Dazhang (alternatively known as Yang Jie), had good family connections and had trained as a petroleum engineer in Japan. Both were Chinese Communist Party (CCP) activists and had begun doing intelligence work for the CCP following the Japanese invasion of China in 1937. In 1944 or 1945, Japanese occupation forces arrested Daqing and executed him.

From 1960 to 1966, Fu studied automatic missile guidance systems at the Harbin Institute of Military Engineering. While a student she also became a formal member of the CCP. They did not see their daughter again until after their release from farm work.

Fu published a short story in November 1979 – her first published work – and at this point began using the name Dai Qing.

At that time, Dai was a dedicated patriot. She once said that she would die if Mao Zedong needed her to do so—but after three to five years, she gradually changed her stance. Dai wanted to understand her community and the lives of ordinary citizens through the eyes of a journalist. She hoped to be able to contribute to the community. She was described as a supporter a Neoauthoritarianism in 1988 whereby China's hope for freedom and democracy lies with an enlightened autocrat; although she agreed with the idea in principle, she said that "China's tragedy is that we have no such new authoritarian." The government kept her under surveillance and restricted her ability to travel.

In 2009, Dai Qing and poet Bei Ling were scheduled to speak at a Frankfurt Book Fair event about contemporary issues in China. However, the event was jointly hosted with China (the book fair's guest of honour that year), and both writers were removed from the list of speakers after Chinese officials demanded their exclusion. Dai Qing told press she would be attending the fair even if she were not permitted to formally speak. The following year, after jailed human rights activist Liu Xiaobo was named a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, his wife Liu Xia asked other Chinese activists and dissidents to attend the award ceremony in support of him, and Dai Qing confirmed that she would be among those in attendance.

In 2016, Dai was still living in Shunyi, Beijing, and continuing to write.

In 2017, Dai went to Chiang Mai in Thailand where a friend invited her to stay, and she decided to move there permanently.

Fellowships and awards

From 1991–1992, Dai Qing held a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University. and a PEN International Award. In 1993 she was awarded a Goldman Environmental Prize and the Condé Nast Traveler Environmental Award, and accepted a fellowship at the Columbia University School of Journalism. She used her time there to complete research for her book Wang Shiwei and "Wild Lilies": Reflection and Purges in the Chinese Communist Party, 1942–1944.

She held a fellowship at the Woodrow Wilson International Center from 1998–1999,

Works

Books

  1. No: A Collection of Short Stories (不 : 中短篇小說集) (1982)
  2. Spring Story of the Red Rock (紅岩英魂逢春記) (Meng #Yong, Dai Qing, Li Jiajie/孟勇, 戴晴, 李家杰著){China-History-Civil War}(1983)
  3. Spirit (魂){Collection of Articles} (1985)
  4. Red Alert: Report of the Da Xing An Ling Forest Fires (紅色警報: 大興安嶺森林大火直擊報導) {Report}(1987)
  5. Liang Shuming, Zhang Shizhao and Mao Zedong (梁漱溟,章士釗與毛澤東){China-Interllectual Life} (1988)
  6. Series of the Chinese National Women (中國女性系列) {Report}(1988)
  7. Readers' Questions and Answers (學者答問錄) {China-Interllectual-Interview}(1988)
  8. Chasing the Devil and God (追逐魔鬼撾住上帝) {Collection of Articles}(1988)
  9. Away from Modern Superstitions (走出現代迷信) (Tao Ling, Zhang Yide, Dai Qing et al./ 陶鎧, 張義德, 戴晴等著) {Philosophy, Marxist}(1988)
  10. Sexually Open Women (性開放女子 ) (Dai Qing et al./ 戴晴等著){Chinese Fiction} (1988)
  11. Yangtze! Yangtze! (揚子! 揚子!) {Reservoirs-China-Yangtze River-Environmental aspects}(1989)It was banned when it was first published in 1989 when the democracy movement in China became active. It is a collection of essays, interviews, statements, points of views and articles from Chinese scientists, environmentalists, journalists and intellectuals who all opposed the Three Gorges Dam scheme. Its credits lie in the fact that it successfully pressured the Chinese government to postpone the implementation of the scheme and it signaled as the first time which democratic movement could interfere with state decisions.
  12. Chang Jiang, Chang Jiang: Arguments Regarding the Three Gorges Dam Project (長江長江 : 三峽工程論爭) (主編戴晴 ; 副主編剛建, 何小娜, 董郁玉 ){Dams-China-Yangtze River Gorges}(1989)
  13. Whether to Continue with the Three Gorges Dam Project: Readers' Collection of Arguments (長江三峽工程應否興建 : 學者論爭文集) (主編戴晴 ; 副主編剛建, 何小娜, 董郁玉){Dams-China-Yangtze River Gorges}(1989)
  14. China's Lack of Interest Regarding Sex: A Collection of Questions from the Mainland Society (中國的性苦悶 : 大陸社會問題紀實){Social Problems-China} (1989)
  15. An Offering to the Heart(心祭) {Chinese Fiction}(1989)
  16. Liang Shuming, Wang Shiwei, Chu Anping (梁漱溟, 王實味, 儲安平) {Intellectuals-China}(1989)
  17. Away from Modern Superstitions: Arguments on Rational Questions (Chen Ling, Zhang Yide, Dai Qing et al.) (走出現代迷信: 關於真理標準問題的大辯論 / 陶鎧, 張義德, 戴晴等著) {Philosophy-Marxist}(1989)
  18. My Imprisonment (我的入獄) {Political prisoners-China-Daires}(1990)
  19. Mo Takuto to Chūgoku chishikijin: Enan seifu kara han uha toso e (毛澤東と中國知識人: 延安整風から反右派鬥爭) (1990)
  20. Mao Zedong, Influencing the World, "Wild Lily" (毛澤東, 黨天下, 野百合花) (1991)
  21. Sentimental Writing for Women (Dai Qing et al.) (齋女 : 女性感抒文學 / 戴晴等著) (1993)
  22. Wang Shiwei and 'Wild Lilies': Rectification and Purges in the Chinese Communist Party (1942–1944) (王實味與野百合花) (1994)
  23. My Account II of Imprisonment at Qin City (在秦城坐牢 : 自己的故事(二)) (1995) In this book, Dai talked about her life in prison and what she thought and saw there. Also, this book included what Dai wrote to her husband, daughter and the police at that time. And she talked about her opinion on the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre and her immigration problems when she went to the United States to study at Harvard University.
  24. Women Who Keep Small Feet: Problems of the Women in Contemporary China (纏足女子 : 當代中國女性問題) (Dai Qing, Luo Ke/戴晴, 洛恪著)(1996) In this book, Dai and Luo give a message to the public. They want the society to pay attention to the problems of the women in China. There are seven chapters in this book spanning such subjects as women who persist in the practice of foot-binding, bigamy, a modern matchmaker and a girl who is raped at the age of nine. In this book, Dai shows herself a unique and critical view on current gender issues.
  25. Whose River: Can a Developing China be Responsible of the Three Gorges Dam Project (誰的長江 : 發展中的中國能否承擔三峽工程) (Dai Qing, Xue Weijia) (編者戴晴, 薛煒嘉) (1996)
  26. The River Dragon Has Come! (水龍來了!) (1997) A book in which Dai Qing gave stern warning to prominent government officials, journalists, intellectuals and the public in China about the disastrous effect which the Three Gorges Dam project might bring to the environment and society of China. Dai Qing also gave a few suggestions on how to achieve the same goal with less catastrophic effects entailed.
  27. Tiananmen Follies: Prison Memoirs and Other Writings (2003)
  28. The Most Dammed Country in the World (2021)

Articles

  1. (with Jeanne Tai), "Raised Eyebrows for Raise the Red Lantern," Public Culture 5(2): 333-337 (1993).
  2. Members of Falungong in an Autocratic Society 2000: Dai Qing contended that China was still based on the mode of collective idea of the previous era. While the members of Falungong gathered together to cultivate their own ideas and worshipped their own god, the Chinese government saw it as a kind a deviation. She criticized the Chinese government for deploying the usual tactics of suppression to crush against Falungong members. Dai claimed that this event represents the greatest conflicts when China steps towards modernity. This article is based on her lecture at the Fairbank Center, Harvard University on November 18, 1999.

See also

  • List of Chinese women writers
  • Mass media in China
  • Women’s roles during the Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989

References

Websites

  1. Goldman Environmental Prize
  2. Communism's Negotiated Collapse: The Polish Round Table Talks of 1989
  3. Three Gorges Dam Project
  4. The article about Dai Qing (Chinese)
  6. Dai Qing, Voice of the Yangtze River Gorges
  7. Three Gorges Probe news service
  • Excerpt from Dai Qing's My Imprisonment (September 1, 1992), freely available via SAGE Publications