A Rising Democratic Thinking in Mainland China：Restoring Republic of China Constitutionalism
中國大陸新興民主思潮：重建中華民國憲政
Adela Lan (Xueli Wang) ‘s speech
at China Democracy Forum, NYU School of Professional Studies, Oct 2nd, 2016
中國民主論壇，紐約大學會場，2016年10月2日
英文演講：雪笠 （空氣）
（中文譯稿：香川克之中譯 雪笠修訂）
Today is Oct 2nd. 67 years ago yesterday in Peking, the Chinese Communist Party officially declared its conquest of mainland China. Two months later, President Chiang Kai-shek took off from Sichuan, the base from which China had defeated Japan in the second World War, and moved to Taiwan, an island that he selected as the next base from where Free China - The Republic of China – would be restored.
今天是10月2日。六十七年前的昨天，中共在北京正式宣告了對中國大陸的征服。兩個月後，蔣中正總統飛離四川——這塊土地曾是中國賴以在二戰中擊敗日本的基地。他和經由民主選舉產生的合法的中國政府將遷至台灣——他們選擇這座島嶼作為下一個復興基地——從這裡，自由中國：中華民國，將從新啟航，涅磐重生。
“We will come back,” he said to his guards. “When Chinese people see through the lies of the Communist Party, they will welcome us home.”
「我們會回來的」，他對侍衛們說，「當中國人民識破中共的謊言，他們將歡迎我們回家」。
He did not come home in his life time, for many, many bitter reasons. And all resistance movements under KMT leadership died out after President Chiang Ching-kuo passed away in 1988, leaving many followers assuming that it might take another 100 years for China to be reborn. What they did not know was that just 15 years later, in this 21st Century, a new democratic thinking would rise up among the youngest generation of Mainland China, aiming to restore the Republic of China’s Constitutionalism.
蔣中正有生之年再未能「回家」—— 因為許多、許多苦澀的原因。不僅如此，所有中國國民黨領導下的抵抗運動，都在蔣經國總統1988年去世後歸於寂滅。這令許多支持者灰心喪志，認為或許還要再等待一百年，中國才有可能獲得重生。他們未曾逆料，短短十五年之後，就在這個二十一世紀之初，一波新的民主思潮就已經在中國大陸最年青的一代當中蔚然成風 —— 他們立志要在中國大陸復興中華民國，重建中華民國憲政體制。
Why do we aim to restore the ROC’s Constitutionalism, instead of inventing a new constitution, such as Charter 08?
為什麽我們會執著於重建中華民國憲政，而不是新擬一部憲法（如《零八宪章》）呢？
Because we believe that restoring the Constitutionalism of the ROC is the most cost-effective, the most efficient, the most realistic and the smoothest short-cut for China’s transition to democracy.
因為我們相信：重建中華民國憲政體制，是實現中國民主轉型成本最低、效率最高、最切實可行、也是最平穩的捷徑。
Why do we believe so?
我們何以堅信？
Ever since the end of the Qing Dynasty, Chinese elites have been exploring, trying to identify a constitutional and democratic framework that fits China the best. In other words, a constitutional and democratic framework that can be installed in China with the least practical difficulty. After studying and translating the essence of Western constitutionalism and democracy, they tried to transplant it and root it soundly into the “earth” of Chinese local culture. Since its birth, the Republic of China had drafted, published and experimented with various constitutional designs until in 1947 it adopted a democratic constitution, based on a consensus reached by the widest possible participation. Unfortunately, its practice was interrupted by the Communist Party. Yet in Taiwan it has thrived and advanced until this day. It has proven to be a successful democracy. It has shown that it is not only westerners who can successfully implement and enjoy democracy. Chinese can too.
自清末以降，中國的精英們就在不斷探索、論證、嘗試，尋找一個最適合中國水土的憲政民主體制，換言之，一個足以在中國落地生根、且現實困難度最小的憲政民主體制。在研究、譯介西方憲政民主理論之後，他們試圖將其精髓移植到中國，並使之在中國本土文化的「土壤」中牢牢生根。自從中華民國誕生之日，她便起草、公佈、實驗了諸多形形色色的憲政設計——直到1947年，她選定了一部共識最大的民主憲法來付諸完全的實施。這部憲法堅若磐石，因為她構築於中國有史以來最廣泛人民參與的共識。不幸的是，她的憲政實踐卻為中共的武裝叛亂所打斷；萬幸的是，她在台灣終得茁壯成長和蓬勃發展，直到今天，生生不息。中華民國憲政在模範省臺灣已被證明是成功的民主實踐；她顯示：民主的成功並非西人獨有的專利，民主的成果也並非僅供西人專享；我們中國人，只要努力，一樣可以做到。
More than 100 years of evolution, more than 60 years of practice and correction, the widest participation and consensus, the marriage of what is good in Chinese culture and in Western culture – something which we refer to as common values - these are the sources of authority for ROC Constitutionalism. Such authority will give Chinese people confidence in new rules and can minimize unrest in the coming vacuum that will come when the Communist Party collapses.
一百多年的演化、六十多年的實踐和糾錯、最廣泛的參與和共識、中西文化的優質部分彼此結合——即「普世價值」——等等，正是中華民國憲政體制的權威所在。這樣的憲政權威將賦予中國人民接受新規則的信心，也將在中共垮台時，將權力真空期的動亂和不適降到最低。
Furthermore, we do not need to repeat through all the learning, interpretation process, and creative efforts that we had undergo during the past 100 years. This would be an unnecessary waste of time. We can reinstall ROC constitutionalism in the shortest time, and it can be the basis of a dignified fresh start for our country.
進一步論之，我們並不需要重複經歷一遍此前所有的學習、譯介、創新之努力——重複這一百年的過程將是不必要的浪費。我們完全可以在最短的時間內重樹現成的中華民國憲政體制，她足以作為我們國家一次全新、富有尊嚴的再出發的基石。
That is why we believe that this path is the most cost-effective and smoothest option for China’s future transition.
這就是我們為什麽堅信：重歸中華民國憲政之路徑乃是中國未來轉型最平順高效、最低成本的選項。
It is not just a belief, a theory. It has become a movement, a movement to restore ROC constitutionalism in mainland China, a movement to revitalize the Republic of China, the Free China, on our mainland.
她已經不止是一種信念、一套學說而已，她已經成為一項運動 —— 一項旨在於中國大陸重建中華民國憲政體制的運動，一項復興中華民國的運動 —— 這項運動力圖在我們中國大陸的土地上復興「自由中國」。
It is certainly a political movement, but its genesis was as a cultural movement.
她毫無疑問是一場政治運動，而她的基底則始於文化運動。
As we have seen that any organized movement on the mainland gets brutally crushed as soon as it gains any influence, we call ourselves “民國憲政派”, “the ROC Constitutionalism School of Thought”, or, we give ourselves the unpresumptuous nickname “國粉”, “Fans of the Republic of China”. Although we are often seen as the “underground, independent KMT of the mainland China”, we try to maintain a “decentralized”, “non-organized” character for this “School of Thought”, which has allowed it to survive and flourish during the past 15 years.
我們已經看到，中國大陸上一切組織化的運動都在剛剛取得一息影響力之時便遭遇殘酷粉碎。有鑒於此，我們自稱為「民國憲政派」，或是更低調的昵稱「國粉」。盡管我們常常被視為中國大陸地區所謂「獨立」的「地下」的「國民黨」，我們仍嘗試維持一種「去中心化」、「非組織化」的「思想流派」屬性，這樣的屬性曾使我們在過去十五年中得以生存和繁盛。
This group and this movement are rather new and different from the “traditional” democratic movements initiated from “within the system” by open-minded intellectuals, which the world has usually associated with China.
這個群體、這項運動甚為新潮，且區別於「改革開放」以來由體制內開明知識分子生發的民主運動——這是過去世界對中國民主運動的通常定義和刻板印象。
Why do I say that this new thinking, this new group and this new movement will be significant and attract the interest of the outer world?
為什麼我要說，這個新思潮、這個新群體、這項新運動將變得愈發重要，並吸引外部世界的矚目呢？
First of all, it is made up of grassroots "barefoot intellectuals" who have been given a voice by the internet. We are not big influential figures rebelling from within the System. We are simply young and powerless internet users who became widely known just for the strength of our online writings. We play a constant cat-and-mouse game with the censors, in order to spread our words across the maximum range.
首先，她是由「草根」的「赤腳知識分子」們組成，這些人是透過新生的互聯網才得以獲取相當的話語權。我們不是從體制叛逃的著名專家教授和公知；我們僅僅是年輕的、無權無勢的網民。我們之所以聲名鵲起，完全憑藉著線上寫作和互聯網傳播的力量。我們與中共審查機構「樂此不疲」地上演「貓捉老鼠」的遊戲，只為了將我們的話語最大程度地傳播出去。
Secondly, it is the re-discovery, by Mainland Chinese, of China's own democratic tradition. This makes it different from almost all other trends in Chinese democratic thinking, which have usually sought to apply and adapt – wholesale - foreign democratic systems to China. We, the ROC Constitutionalists, proclaim that democracy is not unsuitable for Chinese culture. Nor is it solely a foreign or western concept as the Communist Party asserts. For, China established its very own unique constitutional democratic system on the basis of learning from the west, before the Communist military conquest of 1949. We had it; we deserve it.
其二，這是中共建政後中國大陸人民對中國自身民主傳統的首次「再發現」，這使她有別於幾乎所有其他中國民主思潮——他們通常傾向於整體否定中華文化之存在價值，訴諸於通盤地囫圇吞棗地引入外國民主制度。我們民國憲政派則不然，我們支持引入和嫁接外國民主制度，同時我們堅稱民主並非不適於中國文化的水土，民主也並非如中共宣稱那樣是一個完全西方的概念。且不提中國原生的民主共和思想「天下為公、世界大同」，就在中共軍事征服之前，中國早已在學習西方大成的基礎上，建立了自己獨特的憲政民主制度。我們曾經擁有，我們值得再度擁有。
It is, I think, the only Chinese democratic thought that offers the hope of a legitimate plan for what China would look like after the fall of the Communist Party state. Rather than plunge into chaos and civil war, as many both inside and outside China predict if the Communists fall from power, the restoration of the ROC constitution is the potential rallying point, with legitimacy, that will resonate amongst all Chinese people, from mainland, from Taiwan, from Hong Kong and Macao.
在我看來，民國憲政 —— 是在中共政權坍塌後，唯一能夠提供法統權威的方案。有了中華民國憲政的重建，中共倒臺後的中國不僅不會陷入混亂和內戰，中華民國憲政將以她法統之權威，釋放出和解、團結、抖擻一新、重振未來的集結號 —— 激蕩於所有，無分中國大陸、臺灣、香港和澳門...所有所有中國人的心中。
And, most notably, this trend has its wellspring among mainlanders. We were neither funded by Taiwan nor by the USA. We discovered this path through our own extensive research into China’s history, and into China’s efforts of establishing constitutionalism during the past 100 years. Such historical research is more persuasive for the average Chinese than any translated abstract theories.
最值得注意的是，這一思潮、這一歷史大勢是由中國大陸人民自發形成的。在這個過程中，我們既沒有台灣資助，也沒有美國資助。我們完全是本於自己對中國歷史，尤其過去一百年間中國憲政歷程的深切研究，重新發現了民國憲政這條捷徑 —— 與需要通過譯介的抽象理論相較，這樣的歷史研究成果對普通中國人而言更有具體的說服力。
Finally, it is young. Most of us are between our 20s and 40s, and a huge number of teenagers are attracted too. Meanwhile, it is also mature, as it roots spring from deep down, from the work and achievements of our forerunners’.
最後，這場運動年青有為，方興未艾。我們之中的大多數人都在二十歲到四十歲之間，並吸引了巨量青少年的追隨。同時，這場運動又是步履沉穩、莊重老成的，因為她的根基深湛、泉源深遠，我們無數先烈和先行者們的工作和成就斯為明證。
Allow me to conclude with the following words:
請允許我用下面一句話作為本次演講的總結：
A well-aged wisdom has been reborn.
百年老樹，再發新芽。
轉自縱覽中國
