China: Two tales of a boy's death

On July 16, well-known and outspoken political commentary writer Liao Zusheng's (廖祖笙) son Liao Mengjun (廖梦君) is surreptitiously called from summer vacation back to his school to pick up his junior high graduation certificate and, according to one account, within minutes after arriving is found dead on the pavement next to the school wall. An early local newspaper reported the boy had jumped to his death from the sixth floor after being caught rifling through a teacher's desk.

Immediately suspecting foul play, Zusheng turned to his already well-read blog—with readership jumping to forty thousand overnight—with a series of posts claiming a history of abuse and blackmail during his son's time at the school. Although police later admitted the boy's fingerprints could not be found near or in the desk, they did allegedly find a message written on the classroom floor by the boy in his own blood naming one of the senior school administrators: “Murderer xx Chen, I hate you to death.” [zh]

Despite alleged injuries, details and eyewitness accounts suggesting otherwise and after refusing all requests to make public the coroner's report, the police report listed the cause of death as suicide, and named Zusheng, who refused to sign it, as a suspect. Did hired thugs throw sixteen-year old Mengjun down from the sixth floor of the school? Or did the son jump himself after being caught sneaking through a teacher's desk? Will the truth ever be known? The two opposing stories may be all that the public ever have to go by as on the following day all regional media were ordered not to report on the incident.

作家廖祖笙的儿子被谋杀!!!

Writer Liao Zusheng's Son Has Been Murdered!!!

我已经无力再写更多的文字,我只能痛彻心肺地告诉大家——2006年7月16日,作家廖祖笙的儿子在校园内被谋杀!!!

I am already unable to write any more. It is only with great pain and sorrow that I tell everyone that on July 16, 2006, writer Liao Zusheng's son was murdered on his campus!!!

当天下午4时11分,广东省佛山市南海区黄岐中学的政治老师、我儿子的原班主任谭观南,让一个学生用街头公用电话给我家打电话,让我儿子到学校拿毕业证,我孩子去后就再无音信。当晚12点,我们夫妇俩赶到公安机关报案,干警告诉我们,傍晚接到我孩子学校打来的报警电话,他们赶到现场时,已看见一具尸体躺在学校内的墙根旁。他们对死者穿着的描述与我儿子完全吻合,并告诉我们有一个老师已被送往医院抢救。到干警开车把我们送离公安机关时,已是凌晨4点,我儿原班主任谭观南仍被留在公安机关接受调查,干警告诉我们还有几个人要去抓,让我们17日上午到殡仪馆辨认尸体。

At 4:11 pm that afternoon, my son's class director Tan Guannan, politics teacher at Huang Qi middle school in Nanhai district of Guangdong province's Foshan city, had one student use a pay phone on the street to call my home and have my son come to the school to pick up his graduation certificate. After my child left I never heard from him again. At twelve that night, both me and my wife rushed to the police station to file a missing person's report. The officer on duty told us that earlier that evening they had received a call from my child's school. After they rushed to the scene, they saw a body lying on the ground beside a wall inside the school. Their description of the deceased matched that of my son perfectly, and told us that there was a teacher also brought to the hospital. By the time the officer went to drive us home from the police station it was already four o'clock in the morning, and my son's class director Tan Guannan remained in the station for further questioning. The officer told us that there were still a few more people yet to be brought in and told us to be at the morque on the afternoon of the 17th to identify the body.

Prior that the above, Zunsheng had since added a foreword, responding to those readers of his casting strong doubts on his story:

我惊愕于如此惨剧发生之后,还有人在这样的帖子中向我乱石纷飞。对于这些流氓气息十足的跟帖,我一条也不会删,正好让人看清这些人的流氓嘴脸!是什么样的人在这扔石头,大家的心里应该也很清楚。任其怎么巧言恶语,也改变不了我儿子已经被惨杀在校园内这样一个最基本的事实。我为争取教育公平,已经付出了如此血的代价。而这些流氓干的,是什么呢?是惨绝人寰的屠杀!

问我为何家里发生了这样大的事情,还有心情在这里“写文章”?原因很简单,因为我家里电话不断,有各地的编辑、记者在向我了解情况,或友人来电表示深情的安抚。而我家里还有一个80多岁的老母,在被家人接回家乡之前,我还得向她隐瞒我儿子已经被害的噩耗,现在要瞒住,将来也要瞒住,直到她仙逝的那一天。我推说她可爱的孙子参加夏令营去了,要过段时间再回家。老人虽然耳背,但我也不能一再当着她的面,在电话里向来电者讲述我儿子的惨死。如此解释,能让你们这些流氓闭嘴了吗?

就是怎么个恶搞,也休想让你们免予惩罚。只要我一息尚存,只要中国人的良知还没有死绝,我就绝不会让我儿子的鲜血如此白流。你们就等着正义之剑最终挥向你们的头顶吧!杀人也想逃脱惩罚?世上果真会有这样便宜的事吗?

I'm taken aback that after something tragic like this happens, there are still people ‘throwing stones at me’ after a post like this. In response to these punks, I won't even erase one single comment. Let people see clearly these peoples’ hoodlum side! What kind of person is it that would ‘throw stones’ here? I think most people know. No matter how cleverly they slander me, they won't change the fact that my son has already been murdered within his own school. In fighting for equal education, I've already paid for it with blood. And what have these hooligans done? An extremely cruel slaughter!

If you ask me how I can still feel like writing with such a big thing having happened at home, the reason is very simple. Because my home phone hasn't stopped ringing with calls from editors and reporters everywhere wanting to understand the situation, and friends phoning to express their deep sympathy and consolation. And in my home there is also my eighty-year old mother. Before she was taken back to the country home, I had to hide from her my son's sad news. I'm hiding it now and will hide it in the future, right until the day she passes away. I'll just say her cute grandson has gone to summer camp and that he'll be back after not too long. Although she's hard of hearing, I still can't talk about my son's tragic death on the phone when people call. Explained like this, will it shut you thugs up?

Liao Zusheng

That's how much of a farce this all is, and I don't plan on letting you get away with it. As long as there's still breath in my body, as long as Chinese’ conscience still hasn't perished, I absolutely will not allow my son's blood to have been spilt in vain. You just wait until the sword of justice lands on top of your heads! The killers want to get away with it? Do people still get off so easily in this world?

Continuing in a later post, in lieu of the coroner's report which had been denied him, Zunsheng offers a description of his son's body:

从16日晚到此时,我一秒钟也未合眼,也粒米未进。为了不让惨死的爱子死不瞑目,我只能强撑着叙述我今天看到的一切,以及这件惨案的起因结果。
虽然我的判断并不等于公安机关最终的判断,但我今天忍痛在殡仪馆确认了爱子的尸体之后,不仅确信这是一次蓄意谋杀,而且确认他们还是以惨绝人寰的手段惨杀了作家廖祖笙的独子!!!
因为被告知不准触碰或翻动尸体,我们夫妻俩从尸体正面看到我儿死得是如此之惨:

I haven't slept for a second since the 16th and haven't eaten anything either. In order for my tragically-dead and beloved son to rest in peace, I can only keep going by telling all that I saw today, as well as this tragic case's causes and results. Although my judgement is not the same as the police department's final verdict, after suffering and painfully identifying my beloved son's body at the morgue today, not only am I certain that this was a deliberate murder, but also sure that they used extremely cruel means in murdering my only son!!! Because we were told we weren't allowed to touch or move the body, my wife and I could only see this of our son's cruel death:

头部:头发全部被凝固的血液浆住,因为不许触碰,看不到头顶伤在何处;七窍全部流血,血液凝固,牙齿被打得暴突;整个面部全是凝固的血液;右前额塌陷,右脸有明显被利器刺破痕迹,脸上也有明显被拳击后遗留的瘀痕;右下巴出现一个血洞。

Head: The hair was completely caked in dried blood. Because we could not touch him, we couldn't see where on top of the head the injury was. The seven head orifices had all bled, blood that had since dried and hardened. Teeth had been knocked out. The whole face was covered in dried blood. The right forehead had caved in, and the right side of the face had clear signs of having been cut by a sharp instrument. On the face were also bruises, clear signs that he had been struck. On the right side of the jaw was a bloody hole.

颈部:喉管部位有明显手掐的瘀痕。

Neck: On the throat were bruises clearly in the shape of a hand.

前胸:整个前胸部位伤痕累累,找不到一块好肉。因为不许触碰,无法确认哪些肋骨是否断裂。左肋有被利器刺伤创口。

Chest: The entire front of the chest was covered in scars, not a piece of flesh left to be found. Because we couldn't touch him, we had no way of confirming which ribs had been broken. The left side of the ribcage had been punctured by a sharp instrument.

臂部:左上胳膊和右上胳膊全被拧断,有明显骨头暴突错位痕迹,皮肉组织也呈肿胀状态;整个左胳膊有3处匕首捅扎创口,创口深浅不一;

Arms: The upper left and upper right arms had both been broken. There were clear signs the bones had been violently dislocated, and the skin and tissue showed signs of swelling. The entire left arm had three knife stab wounds, all of varying depth.

腿部:右膝盖下方被血淋淋剜去鸡蛋大的一块肉,创口深可见骨;右脚有大片瘀伤,并有明显骨头断裂痕迹;左大腿和左小腿各有一处被匕首捅扎创口。

Legs: Beneath the right knee a chunk of flesh the size of a chicken egg had been gouged out, the wound bloody but deep enough to see bone. On the right leg was a large bruise, clear signs the bones had been broken. The left thigh and right calf both had knife stab wounds.

背部:因为不许翻动尸体,无法检视背部伤处。我儿身下积留的大片血水足可淹到半个手部。

Back: Because we were not allowed to move the body, there was no way to examine wounds to the back. Beneath my son's body there was a pool of blood deep enough to submerge half a hand.

Liao Mengjun

这是我夫妻俩在殡仪馆看到的基本情况。同日,广州和佛山多家媒体对此案的跟踪采访已介入,因为被告知不能进殡仪馆,因此没有陪同一块前往检视。

These are the basic circumstances seen by my wife and I at the morgue. The same day, many Foshan and Guangzhou media had already begun looking to do interviews in following up this story, but because they were told they could not enter the morgue, they did not accompany us to the viewing.

在整个追杀过程中,进行的是一场何等惨绝人寰的追杀,由上述情况可见一斑。广东省佛山市南海区黄岐中学附近有群众向前来采访的记者描述:事发当时,有七八位成年男人手持铁棍、木棍等凶器,从学校的操场上把一位少年往教学楼上追打。没过多久,有人看到一少年从5楼窗口往下坠楼,或被人推落。

It can be seen in the details above just how cruel a chase to his death it had been. As described to journalists in interviews of a group near Huang Qi middle school in Nanhai district of Guangdong province's Foshan city, at the time the incident took place, seven or eight adult men carrying iron rods and wooden sticks chased one youngster from the sports field up the stairs to the teaching area and beat him. Before long, someone saw a youngster either fall or be pushed from a window on the fifth floor.

从时间上分析,我估计我儿进校在10分钟左右,整个有预谋的诱杀过程就已完成,依据如下:

16日下午4时11分,我妻子突然接到一个学生挂来的电话(后证实是街头公用电话),说我儿的前班主任谭观南让我孩子到学校去拿毕业证,于是我妻下楼把孩子从花园里找来,两人换了衣服,先到附近的市场购物,而后陪着我儿去学校。考虑到这几个月来,因老师数次殴打我儿、校方对我儿的中考百般刁难,我妻不愿与学校的老师再见面,于是下车后,两人说定在离学校不远的一个图书城碰面,不见不散。于是我妻进书城购书,我儿步行走向学校。这之间至少需费时40分钟。而事后干警告诉我们,5点10分左右,黄岐中学向警方报警,说“学校发现一个小偷”,等警方赶到时,一具尸体已经躺在教学楼旁的水泥地面。

From an analysis of the timing, I estimate that within ten minutes of my son's entering the school grounds, the entire trap and kill process had been carried out, according to the following details:

At 4:11 pm on the afternoon of the 16th, my wife suddenly received a phone call from one student (later determined to have been from a public phone), saying my son's class director Tan Guannan wanted him to come to the school to pick up his graduation certificate, and then my wife went downstairs to find my son in the garden, the two of them changed clothes, went first to a nearby market to buy some things, and then she took him to the school. Given that over the last few months my son's teachers had struck my son many times and that school officials had created several obstacles to prevent my son from sitting his senior high school entrance exam, my wife didn't want to meet any of the school's teachers again, so after he got out of the car, the two of them agreed to meet at a book shop near the school and my wife went to the bookstore to buy some books. Then my son walked towards the school. All of this need to have taken at least forty minutes. And afterwards, the duty officer told us that around 5:10, Huang Qi middle school called the police and said “we've noticed a thief here at the school.” When the police arrived, a body was already lying on the concrete next to the school wall.

At this point, Zusheng expands more on the history of conflict between him and his son's educators:

这件惨案会发生,绝非偶然,我家同该校有过多种过节:

该校在全国已经实行义务教育“一费制”收费之后,仍频频乱收费、高收费。只要你的户口还没有转到当地,该校就或收高价3个学年近万元,或收半高价近千元一学期。我儿念初二之后,我对这种收费方法再无法忍受,于是给该校校长写了一封措辞比较激烈的信,拒绝再被盘剥,并表示校方如因此不让我孩子上学,我将向媒体曝光并诉诸法律。后校方把我找到学校,同意对我孩子的收费“特事特办”。此过节一。

This tragic case absolutely did not happen by accident; my family has had several run-ins with the school.

After this school implemented the national mandatory education “one fee system”, they still often arbitrarily collected fees, and high ones at that. If your hukou hasn't been registered locally, the school charges nearly for three school years, or half that at nearly a thousand yuan per semester. After my son finished junior two [age 14], I could no longer tolerate these kinds of fees and wrote a very strongly-worded letter to the principal refusing to be exploited again, and told the school officials that if because of this they refused to allow my son to continue his schooling, I would expose this to the media and file a lawsuit. Later the school officials called me to the school and agreed to treat my son's tuition as ‘special matter, special handling’. That was run-in one.

我儿过去一向被老师赞不绝口,年年拿回一堆奖状或获奖证书,可自从初三由政治老师谭观南担任班主任之后,就成了其眼中钉,肉中刺,屡次遭到他的殴打。就在中考前两天,就因为同学之间借用橡皮擦这等鸡毛蒜皮之事,谭观南居然当着全班近60个学生对我孩子手掐脖子,拳打肋骨。之后又一整天不让我儿进教室上课,让他全天在老师办公室面壁。这事发生后,我极为气愤,表示要起诉谭观南,他连夜赶来我所在的花园向我道歉,我因为当时在气头上,拒绝他进入我的家门。学校有个梁主任,对我儿也两度表示要“揍你”。此过节二。

All along my son had been praised by his teachers, every hear bringing home a stack of certificates and awards. But starting in junior three when his politics teacher Tan Guannan took the position of his class director, Tan became the nail in his eyes, a thorn in his flesh, frequently receiving his beatings. Just two days before the senior high entrance examination, in response to the trivial matter of son borrowing a classmate's eraser, Tan Guannan had all sixty students in the class use their hands to pinch my son's neck and smack his ribs. Following this there was one day when Tan wouldn't let my son enter the classroom, and made him spend the entire day in the teachers office stand facing the wall. After this happen I was outraged, and threatened to sue Tan Guannan. The same night he rushed to our home to apologize to me. Because I was too hotheaded at the time, I refused to allow him to enter my home. The school has one Director Liang, who twice threatened my son saying he wanted to “punch him.” This was run-in two.

今年4月,校方突然要我家出示房产证正本,否则就不让我孩子按正常程序中考,而要让他把“择校”当作报考的第一自愿,而择校费相关领导告知是3万元。为了给我孩子争取平等接受教育的机会,我一连数月撰文向教育积弊宣战,这些文章除了散见于各地媒体,也都可以在我的新浪博客上找到。校方也许感受到了压力,常常对我孩子进行精神折磨,最多的时候,一天有3个老师找我儿谈话,谈话时间长达3个多小时,要他按“择校”标准填报中考自愿,有时害得我儿在学校连吃饭也赶不上,只能到零售店买面包充饥。为了这事,我夫妇俩几次打电话向学校老师抗议。此过节三。

In April this year, the school officials suddenly wanted my family to produce the original copy of our property ownership certificate or else they wouldn't let my child sit the senior high entrance exam, and in addition wanted him to re-register at the school as a ‘transfer student’, which would see him then having to pay a tuition of thirty thousand RMB [approx. USD 3,750]. In struggling to give my son an equal opportunity to receive education, I spent several months writing pieces declaring war on education fraud. These articles, aside from appearing in numerous media, can also be found on my blog. Perhaps the school officials received some pressure, because they often sought ways to cause my child to suffer. At its peak, one day three teachers sought my son for a chat, and chatted for over three hours, wanting him to fill out his senior high school selection form as a ‘transfer student’. Sometimes they held my son up so long that he'd miss lunch at the cafeteria, leaving him to have to buy bread at a shop to sate his hunger. Because of this, both my wife and I phoned his teachers many times to protest. This was run-in three.

也许是我批判教育积弊的文章屡次不点名地提到该校的一些做法,给该校带来了压力,我儿原班主任谭观南显得尤为紧张,自己杜撰了多条他有为我儿争取正常中考的工作情况,要我在这张纸上签字,以摆脱干系。我见这些情况多有不实之词,并有意在第一条中就恶意涂抹我们在欺骗学校,我因此拒绝签字。此过节四。

Perhaps I fingered this school too freely in my numerous articles on education fraud, bringing pressure down on the school, making my son's former class director Tan Guannan appear very nervous. He came up with many stories of all the work he's done fighting on behalf of my son, asking me to sign my name, to help him shirk responsibility. Many of the instances he cited were untrue, in particular the first item in which he tried in a hostile manner to say we had deceived the school. Seeing this, I refused to sign. This was run-in four.

The holes Zunsheng perceives in the official version of events are many, and here are a few:

后来我通过把妻儿户口迁入的方式,让校方再无法刁难我儿的中考。没想到问题解决了,人命也就发生了。

Later, I transferred my wife's hukou over, leaving the school officials unable to prevent my son from sitting the senior high entrance examination. I didn't think the problem had been resolved, and now someone's life has been lost.

几处疑点:

Several suspicious points:

为什么谭观南过去从来都是用他的手机或办公室电话同我家联系,这次却要让一个学生用公用电话把我孩子叫到学校?

Why did Tan Guannan, when in the past having always ever only used his mobile phone or the office phone to contact my family, this time have a student use a public telephone to call my son to the school?

为什么别的同班同学早就拿了毕业证,我儿的毕业证却要这么迟才间接通知他到已经放假的学校去拿,而且电话打来时已是下午4点多?

Why did other classmates of the same class receive their graduation certificates much earlier, and my son receive notice so late and during vacation to come to the school to pick it up? And why was the phone call made already well pass four in the afternoon?

为什么我儿已经死亡好几个小时,我们3次同他联系,他还要隐瞒情况?

Why when my son had already been dead for several hours, when we contacted Tan three times, did he conceal the situation?

为什么校方报警时说“发现一个小偷”,却是七八个成年男人手持各种凶器对我儿从操场追打到5楼?我儿自小被老师们赞不绝口,一个作家的孩子最后一次被骗到学校,就命丧黄泉,并被他们涂抹成了“小偷”?

Why did school officials, when they phoned the police, say they “noticed a thief,” when actually there were seven or eight adult men brandishing various lethal weapons who chased my son from the sports field up to the fifth floor where they beat him? My son, always praised by his teachers since he was young, a writer's son at last was tricked into coming to the school only to end up leaving this world, has been labelled by them as a “thief”?

……我无法再写下去了。即便是在家破人亡之后,我也依然坚信党和政府、公安机关最终会为我惨死的爱子讨还公道。如果这样的奇案也不能尽快水落石出,那么天理何在,光明何在,教育界的本质又何在?苍天啊,我相信你始终注视着这片土地,不会让一个作家的独子就这样白白被人惨绝人寰地给谋害!

……I can't write anymore. Even now that my family has been broken up, I still remain convinced that The Party, the government and the police will finally see to it that my beloved and tragically-dead son receives justice. If this kind of strange case can't be resolved quickly, then where is the justice, the light, the essence of the education system? God, I trust you'll forever be watching this land, and won't let a writer's only son be cruelly murdered in vain!

In this post dated July 21, still unable to provide an autopsy report or any other related documentation, Zusheng makes his private notes public:

■2006年7月17日:
上午《南方都市报》、《广州日报》、《佛山日报》、《珠江时报》、佛山电视台等媒体的记者接到群众报料电话后,已陆续赶来。佛山的一位记者致电南海区××××××相关人员,对方要记者先别报道这事,要统一宣传口径,说是学校有一个“小偷”摔死。不久后佛山的一位记者告诉我,×××××××已经来电,让这家媒体的记者撤回。

July 17, 2006
This morning after phoning reporters at Southern Metropolis Daily, Guangzhou Daily, Foshan Daily, Zhujiang Times and Foshan Television and other media, they all hurried over. One reporter from Foshan received a phone call from an employee at Nanhai district xxxxxxx, telling the reporter to not report this incident for the moment, saying there needs to be a unified propaganda statement, that a “thief” had fallen to his death at the school. Not long after, that Foshan reporter told me that xxxxxxx had already phoned, calling for this media outlet's reporters to be recalled.

中午警方带我们夫妻到殡仪馆辨认尸体,记者赶去学校了解情况。经过辨认,那具惨不忍睹的尸体确系我儿廖梦君的遗体!从殡仪馆出来,我们夫妻俩赶往黄岐中学汇合,有记者告诉我,××××××的领导再次同记者谈到“统一宣传口径”之事,其间有记者向对方指出:这事捂着瞒着恐不是办法,把廖先生的孩子说成是“小偷”,更没有谁会相信,只会把事情越搞越大。对方于是答应不再“统一宣传口径”。

In the afternoon the police took my wife and I to the morgue to identify the body, and reporters hurried to the school to investigate the situation. At the identification, that tragic, unbearable-to-see corpse was definitely my son Liao Mengjun's remains! Coming out from the morgue, my wife and I hurried over to Huang Qi middle school to join the reporters, who told us that leader xxxxxx had again chatted with the reporters about the matter of “a unified propaganda statement.” Among them was a reporter who mentioned that concealing this incident was probably not the best solution, that nobody will believe you if you call Mr. Liao's son a “thief,” that it will only make things worse. The official then answered there would be no more need for “a unified propaganda statement.”

在学校门口,我气愤地质问:“一个活生生的孩子就这样惨死在学校,你们还想把一个作家的孩子涂抹成‘小偷’,可能吗?有人相信吗?”一位×领导赶紧说:“没有说他是‘小偷’呀,谁说他是‘小偷’了?已经说过这材料要收回了,不对外发了。”

At the school gate, I furiously asked, “a living, breathing child dies like this in your schoolyard and you still plan on labelling a writer's child “thief”? How likely is that? Will anyone believe it? One leader x hurriedly said, “we never said he was a ‘thief'! Who said he was a ‘thief'? We already said that this information has been withdrawn, will not be made public anymore.”

晚上《广州日报》、《南方日报》等媒体的记者几次给我打来电话,催我补充情况,说稿子赶着上版。我于是写下了在殡仪馆看到的情况。

This evening Guangzhou Daily and Southern Metropolis Daily and other media's reporters phoned me several times, urging me to supplement the details, saying the story was about to be printed. At this time I wrote down the details from the morgue.

■2006年7月18日:

原以为今天梦君遇害的事会出现在多家媒体上,谁知上网以及买来报纸,没有看到片言只语。与几位在媒体工作的同志电话联系后,始知××××××××昨晚临时下了通知,说这事要等破案之后才能报道。

I'd thought that today I would be able to see news of Mengjun's murder in many different media today. Who knew that on the internet as well as in the papers, there wouldn't be a word. After phoning up media workers at several papers, I found out that last night xxxxxxxxx had sent down a temporary order, saying this incident must not be reported until the case is solved.

一个此前没有任何犯罪纪录、从小不偷人一针一线的少年,这般离奇惨死校园,“统一宣传口径”后的结果是这个少年是“小偷”,被发现后杀人……这简直是在愚弄所有中国人的判断力。如此滔天冤案,要何时才会真正大白于天下?!

A young boy with no criminal record whatsoever, who'd never stolen a penny from anyone, who died tragically in a schoolyard, as a result of “a unified propaganda statement” is now a “thief”, who killed someone after being noticed……this is simply a mockery of all Chinese’ judgement ability. As for this monstrous misfortune, when will it finally reach the light of day?!

Of the many discrepancies Zusheng sees in the official recount of the events compared to information he has gathered on his own, one of the major points of contention is that despite the repeated ill treatment his son allegedly received at school in the past, it was never at the hands of teacher Deng, who aside from being the owner of the books Mengjun reputedly tried to steal, according to Zusheng, was also stabbed seven times at some point.

如果说一个纯真的孩子仅只因为书籍被扣就有了行凶动机,就会“突然伸出左手绕住邓老师的脖子,右手从身上掏出一把水果尖刀,猛刺向邓老师”,那么一伙名曰人民教师,实则经常打学生的斯文败类就更有行凶杀人的可能。到网上去看看,实地到学生当中去问问,该校体罚、刁难学生的事常有。

If you say that a naive child, only because of being busted with some stolen books, suddenly has violent motivations, then “stuck out his left hand and grabbed teacher Deng by the neck, and with his right hand pulled out a fruit knife and madly stabbed teacher Deng,” well, if a so-called group of ‘teachers for the people’, these Jekyll and Hydes, frequently hit their students, then that someone would have motivation to kill would be all the more likely. Just go look on the internet, or better yet go and ask the students themselves. This school practices corporal punishment, and often makes things difficult for the students.

特别是该校一直想把我孩子变成要多花3万元就读的择校生,结果目的非但没有得逞,相反一再遭到痛批时,就更是容易恼羞成怒。这次领证之后,我儿就要到别的学校念书去了,再也不用踏进已让他感到恐惧的这所学校了,这是他们最后的一次报复机会!在别的场所要诬陷一个孩子,岂有如此方便?

Especially since this school all along has wanted to see my son to pay an extra thirty thousand RMB just to continue his education. In the end not only did they not succeed, but when things got bad, they got angry all the easier. After taking his graduation diploma, my son wanted to go study at another school, never to set foot in or feel fear from this school again. This was their last chance to retaliate! Would framing a student in any other location been as convenient as here?

邓老师被捅了7刀?我儿的身上又何止被人捅了7刀?!他的累累伤口又是怎么来的?没有人追杀他,他如何会好端端从6楼坠落,而且是垂直坠落,连1米外的栏杆也没能跳出?

Teacher Deng was stabbed seven times? Then how did my son get stabbed far more times than that? How did his countless wounds come to be? If nobody was chasing him, how then did he suddenly fall down from the sixth floor? And it was a vertical fall. Wasn't he able to jump over the metre-high bannister?

惨死的孩子已经没有任何解释和申辩的能力,这几个老师爱怎么说就可以怎么说。如果说这样的所谓“真相”也能在某部门几次开会研讨之后出笼,并且成立,那么是否意味着我们的社会,往后就可以延伸这样一种逻辑:杀人要比速度,谁永远闭上了嘴巴,谁就是小偷、凶手;谁仍然还活着,谁就是受害者甚至正义的化身?

The tragically-dead child already has no ability to explain or defend himself, so these teachers can say whatever they want. If some departments have several meetings and decide that what is created there and comes out shall be the so-called “facts”, then does that not suggest that our society could expand on this logic in the future: murders must be done quickly. Those whose mouths are forever shut become the thieves, the murderers, and whoever still lives is then the victim, the embodiment of justice?

在这样的环境下生存,我已经没有了最基本的安全感,如果本博客长期未更新,那么极可能我们夫妇俩也已经被害了。如果我不在了,我的灵魂将仍然希望国家更强大,国人多珍重。

Living in this kind of environment, I no longer have any sense of security. If this blog goes too long without being updated, then it's very likely that my wife and I have been hurt. If I am no longer here, my spirit will still be hoping for a mightier country, for its nationals to take better care of themselves.

不要为了掩盖已有的罪恶,而实施更大的罪恶!这对我们这个国家和民族只有坏处,没有好处!

Don't commit a bigger crime in covering up those that have already been commited. There are no advantages in this for our country and our people, only disadvantages!

On a post dated July 28, Zusheng demands that a police superindent take charge of his son's case, the progress with which he finds unacceptable. Here he lists some of the reasons why:

警方在被翻动的地方没有提取到廖梦君的指纹
警方并不能确认廖梦君行窃
廖梦君的血书指向的杀人凶手并非邓老师
原先的公用电话居然变成了“住宅电话”
案情和尸检报告俱在,不给,当面看一遍也不行
毕业证、录取通知书未被扣,起因只因几本书?
警方认定遍体鳞伤、腹部被捅穿的廖梦君是“自杀”
签字和不签字一个样,这个案子“要撤销”

Police did not find Liao Mengjun's fingerprints in the area that had been rifled through
Police cannot confirm that Liao Mengjun was stealing
Liao Mengjun's letter in blood refers to the murderers and not to teacher Deng
The former street phone has now become a “residential phone”
The case details and autopsy report have all been completed, but they won't release them, won't even allow us a look
The graduation certificate and matriculation notice were not smashed; the cause of all this was just a few books?
Police maintain that Liao, Mengjun, beaten black and blue and with a stabbed abdomen, “committed suicide”
Regardless of whether I sign or not, this case will “melt away”

As questionable as official Chinese police reports can sometimes be, turning to the internet to tell his story without any documentation to back it up saw many sharp-fingered readers try and rip him a new one. One interesting point Zusheng mentions, also in his July 28 post, is that after his son's story drew more and more attention, several readers apparently using several different nicknames began to flood the discussion flow, ignoring the suspicions Zusheng raised based on his own observations and fixating on contradictory official details. Here we see one reader from the hugely-popular Club.Cat898.com BBS, where the incident was also being discussed, propose a new theory:

廖案的另一种猜测(也并非不可能)

Another hypothesis in the Liao case (and by no means an impossible one)

我的猜测:已经看过关于这个案子的N中分析,各有各的道理,说廖是小偷者有之,说邓是杀人者有之,说廖捅伤邓然后自杀者有之。 有对教育制度愤慨者,有对廖君死亡冷潮热讽者,而我在综观整个案子后,觉得有比较合理的推测是这样的:

My hypothesis: we've already seen x number of analyses of this case, all with their own reasoning. Some say Liao is a thief, some say Deng is the killer, some say after Liao stabbed Deng he jumped to his death. Some express their indignation towards the education system, and some mock Liao's death. But after having read through the whole case, I think a rather reasonable speculation is as such:

听廖父说,廖君与邓姓老师平时并无任何过节。所以我排除邓姓老师是坏人的可能性。
极有可能是:某势力(到底是学校本身还是假手他人目前不甚清楚)设局要殴打廖同学,而邓姓老师发现了,出于良知予以制止,被穷凶极恶之人附带捅伤,(此时是在三楼),然后又追赶廖同学至六楼,也可能并非是想真的杀了他,但场面失控,廖有可能在被抛下去的(此时还未死亡),也有可能情急之下跳楼至死。
以上推测可以解释很多问题。刀既不是廖的,也非邓姓老师的。 也能解释为什么邓老师在三楼,而廖同学在六楼坠楼。 更能解释廖及邓身上都有刀伤的问题。

According to Liao senior, Liao junior and teacher Deng normally never have any conflicts. That's why I exclude the possibility that teacher Deng is the villain. The most likely is that some interest (whether that's the school itself or hired help remains unclear) was supposed to beat classmate Liao, and was noticed by teacher Deng who, moved by his conscience to act, was stabbed by those poor, evil murderers (at this time still on the third floor), who then chased classmate Liao up the stairs to the sixth floor. It's possible they never set out to kill him, but that they lost control of the situation and Liao was either thrown down (still not dead at this point), or out of desparation jumped down to his death. The above speculation can explain many problems. Like the knife, which was neither Liao's or teacher Deng's. It can also explain why teacher Deng was on the third floor when classmate Liao fell down from the sixth. But what it best explains is where Liao and Deng's stab wounds come from.

当然行凶者我本不愿意恶意推测一定是跟学校方面有关联,但事态的发展,如果以上推测属实的话,极有可能邓老师本身是见义勇为者,但在医院清醒过后,迫于某种压力或某种利益关系,而讲了假话。
而警方也许本可以公正一点办案(当然我这里并非说目前不公正,只是推测),但因廖作家把事情提升到了和教育对立的高度上来,而让本身简单的事情变复杂了。

I of course wouldn't be so malicious as to assume that the killers have any connection with school authorities, but as things develop, and if the above speculation is true, then it's very possible that teacher Deng started off with brave intentions, but after regaining his head in the hospital, was forced to lie due to a certain kind of pressure or interested party. And from what I see, the police could be a little more fair in their handling of the case (of course I am not saying here and now that it is not fair at this point, this is only speculation), but because writer Liao has cast himself in opposition to the education system, what was once a simple matter has now become quite complicated.

行凶者是拖某位老师的请求,教训一下廖吗? 不确定,有可能!
行凶者是拖某位学校领导的请求,教训一下廖吗? 不确定,也有可能!
但至少我认为,行凶者不会直接是老师干的,更不太可能是邓老师干的!

Did some teacher hire the killers to teach Liao a lesson? Uncertain, but possible!
Did some school leader hire the killers to teach Liao a lesson? Uncertain, but possible!
But as far as I'm concerned, the killing could not have been carried out by a teacher. Most implausible is that teacher Deng did it!

廖同学有可能自杀吗?也不能说完全没可能,但我认为可能性非常之小,没人追杀,自己跑到六楼跳下去的可能性实在太小。
所以纵观本案,各种可能性都有,因为整件事更详细的情况说明也不知道是因为什么原因而没有公布出来,所以不好下结论。
———但就目前已知的情况来判断和分析,最合理的解释应该是我以上的推测:凶手另有其人,廖与邓都是受害者,而邓因为某种原因可能永远也不会讲真话了。
一家之言,请网友评判!

Is it possible classmate Liao committed suicide? One cannot say this is completely impossible, but I feel the likelihood is extremely low. If nobody was chasing him, the likelihood that he would run up to the sixth floor and jump down, realistically, is too low. Looking through this case, every sort of possibility exists, because no matter how clearly every detail in the entire affair is explained, we don't know why an announcement still hasn't been made, that's why it's hard to form an opinion. Of the judgements and analyses based what we know so far, the most reasonable explanation is most likely the one I've mentioned above: that there were other killers, that Liao and Deng were the victims, and that Deng, due to some reason or another, will possibly never tell the truth. That's just my opinion, welcome all netfriends to give theirs!

While Zusheng hasn't posted for three days now, his longest period of silence since he began, he does appear to be preparing for a long fight to find the truth of the matter:

廖祖笙急需援助

Liao Zusheng is in dire need of assistance

即便是在这样的情况下,有些事情我也仍然是说不得,不能说。
几近崩溃,但我不能就这么倒下。我清楚地知道这不单是我儿离奇惨死的问题,也涉及到少儿就学环境、公众安全、公民权益等问题。虽然我的人生已被粉碎,但我就是要倒下,也要在告慰了亡魂之后倒下。
这不是一般的逆风而行,极有可能会是一场旷日持久的“讨个说法”。我知道,我急需援助:
如果您是一位真正的目击者或知情人,千万不要埋汰了良知,请与我联系!
如果您是一位经验丰富、能打硬仗的律师,请与我联系!最好一位是北京的律师,一位是广州的律师。
如果您是一位路见不平、乐于助人者,请您为我提供资助!

Even under these circumstances, there are still some things I best not say, cannot say.
I'm very close to falling apart, but I won't collapse just like that. I know clearly that there's more to this problem than my son's tragic death, but that this also touches on my son's learning environment, public safety, civil rights and interests, etc. Although my life has already been destroyed, and I would like to collapse, first I must see that the spirit has been laid to rest.
This is not a fight against the wind, but it's extremely likely that it will be a time-consuming “discussion”. All I know is that I need support:
If you are an honest witness or have inside knowledge, please do not bury your consciences, and contact me!
If you are an experienced, hard-fighting lawyer, please contact me! Ideally I will need a lawyer in Beijing and one in Guangzhou.
If you see an unfair situation and are willing to help, please provide me with some financial assistance!

……

我希望善良、正直的人们伸出温暖的双手,帮我一把,泣谢!
我的电话:0757-85902681 13528908198
我的邮箱:liaozusheng66@163.com  liaozusheng@gmail.com
我的卡号:4518 1075 9445 3276 工行牡丹卡:廖祖笙
我的博客:http://blog.sina.com.cn/m/liaozusheng
廖祖笙泣谢天下所有善良、正直的人们!

I hope that all good and upright people will reach out with both arms and help me. I tearfully thank you!
My telephone numbers: 0757-85902681 13528908198
My e-mail addresses: liaozusheng66@163.com  liaozusheng@gmail.com
My bank card number: 4518 1075 9445 3276 Industrial and Commerce Bank of China, Peony Card: Liao Zusheng
My blog: http://blog.sina.com.cn/m/liaozusheng

5 comments

  • Loafer

    It is shocking that the PSB and propaganda dept have put a gag order on regional journalists. Instead, the regional newspapers are ordered to publish the same rubbish that accused the son of having committed a crime and then killing himself, without any solid evidence.

    There’s still light though. Apparently from the author’s blog, other journalists have published articles on national newspapers harshly criticizing the gag order. As long as the media are not 100% silenced, there’s hope that the truth will come out someday.

  • Thanks for publishing the story to get the information out. No words are satisfactory otherwise than to try to convey how angry and sad it makes me.

  • SpiderGirl

    Sina, the No.1 website in china ( as I know), is removing replies to Mr. Liao’s blog without any explanation.

    How so ridiculous for a country like china to talk of democracy and legislation and human right when its people can even hardly talk over a murder on the internet.

  • Very interesting, thanks for the heads up, SpiderGirl. I haven’t been following this story so closely lately, and the only place I’ve seen it mentioned since was on Sina blogger Han Han’s (韩寒) blog here: http://blog.sina.com.cn/u/4701280b010006cq, and fortunately still seem to be no shortage of comments there.

  • […] Next he goes to Foshan in southern Guangdong province to investigate the Liao Zusheng case. As with the many of the other stories he investigates and blogs, Zola’s filmed an interview with the key figure in the matter; in this case, the dead boy’s father. It’s a clip just begging for someone to give it English subtitles. […]

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