What Mao Zedong (China’s 1st present) and Xi Jinping (China’s current present) are saying is “Following the party is the right thing, all is for our country’s and the people’s good”. What other people are saying is “Trust me, it’s for your own good, I won’t harm you”. Their words are slightly different from each other according to their emotions.

 

Self-censorship happens everywhere and this project focuses on that in China. “Trust me, it’s for your own good, I won’t harm you.” is the key sentence to help people understand the unique pattern of self-censorship in China. Those words are spoken frequently by Chinese, especially by those who are close to you, like your family and friends. If they think you’re doing something wrong or something most people will not do, they tend to persuade you like this and make decisions for you. What’s more, if  they are your seniors, parents or husband/wife, they may command you to change your mind and do as what they said. There’re always such conflicts between an individual and those who lives around him/her. As a Chinese, if  you don’t want to be disturbed/ hurt others’ feeling/ get into trouble, you may censor yourself before saying something or doing something. This kind of pressure not only appears on individual level, but also exists on the nation level. The two political figures are symbols of the Party here. Like other Chinese, they’re trying to convince you that they are always on the right side and want to take control of you. The pressure is like dust in the air, you live in a monitored world.