Wuhan Diary
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| Author | Fang Fang |
|---|---|
| Frequency | Daily |
| Format | Online diary |
| Publisher | Self-published |
| First issue | 25 January 2020 |
| Final issue Number | 25 March 2020 60 |
| Country | China |
| Based in | Wuhan |
| Language | Chinese |
Wuhan Diary (Chinese: 武汉日记; pinyin: Wǔhàn rìjì) is an online diary written by Chinese writer Fang Fang about the life of the people of Wuhan, China during the Wuhan lockdown during efforts to quarantine the center of an outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and stop it spreading.[1][2][3] An English translation of the diary, titled Wuhan Diary: Dispatches from a Quarantined City, was published in book format by HarperCollins in June 2020.
Background
[edit]During the 2020 Hubei lockdowns, her Wuhan Diary (武汉日记), the daily account of the locked down city's posted on social media, was widely made public. However, each post was quickly deleted by censors.[4] Fang Fang's Weibo account, which had more than 3.8 million followers, was shut down in February. It was later reinstated.[5] Fang Fang started the diary on 25 January 2020, two days after Wuhan was locked down.[6][7][8] She published her 60th and what she called her final entry shortly after midnight on 25 March 2020, hours after the authorities announced that Wuhan's lockdown would end on 8 April.[9] Fang wrote her diary from her house in Wuhan's Wuchang District, where she lives alone.[10]
An English translation, titled Wuhan Diary: Dispatches from a Quarantined City, translated by Michael Berry, was published in book format by HarperCollins in June 2020.[11]
Reactions
[edit]Fang Fang's diary had received polarized responses from the Chinese public. Academic and journalist Liang Yu described the debates in China about Fang Fang as "not a war between left and right, but between old and new."[12]: 131 Fang Fang's domestic supporters were primarily middle-aged people who saw her as holding government figures accountable.[12]: 129 Detractors were often younger, and questioned the truthfulness of her accounts or contended that she was spreading "hearsay".[12]: 129
Public criticism of Fang Fang in China increased after it became known that her work was being expedited for publication in English and German.[12]: 130 Those who criticized Fang Fang contended that her writing was used by anti-Chinese elements to spread conspiracy theories about COVID-19's origins and to make unjustified criticisms of China.[12]: 130
[T]he public has every right to express their strong dissatisfaction for the Diary of Fang Fang. This represents an important aspect of the plurality. Many people would feel differently about the Diary now that they have witnessed a much more severe humanitarian crisis going on in the pandemic-ridden US and can reconsider the combat against the outbreak in Wuhan in a larger context.
Michael Berry, who started translating Wuhan Diary into English beginning in February 2020.[13] The German version was translated by Michael Kahn-Ackermann, and was published by Hoffmann und Campe Verlag on 30 May 2020.[14] Berry received angry and death threat emails for translating the diary.[13]
In her Wuhan Diary, Fang Fang has called for an end of the Internet censorship in China: "Dear internet censors, you should let Wuhan people speak".[15]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Chinese writer faces backlash for 'Wuhan Diary'". Bangkok Post. 22 April 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
- ^ "She Kept a Diary of China's Epidemic. Now She Faces a Political Storm". The New York Times. 14 April 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
- ^ "Notes on Covid-19 outbreak: Chinese writer Fang Fang faces death threats for 'Wuhan Diary'". India Today. 22 April 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
- ^ "Fang Fang: The 'Conscience of Wuhan' Amid Coronavirus Quarantine". The Diplomat. 23 March 2020.
- ^ Davidson, Helen (10 April 2020). "Chinese writer faces online backlash over Wuhan lockdown diary". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
- ^ Lau, Mimi; Xie, Echo (18 April 2020). "Coronavirus: Chinese writer hit by nationalist backlash over diary about Wuhan lockdown". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
- ^ Su, Alice (21 March 2020). "Two months into coronavirus lockdown, her online diary is a window into life and death in Wuhan". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
- ^ Wu, Yuwen (2 March 2020). "Chinese propagandists don't want you to read this diary on the coronavirus lockdown in Wuhan". The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
- ^ Wong, Chun Han (1 April 2020). "A Wuhan Writer Rages Against China's Communist Machine and Becomes an Online Star". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
- ^ Sherwell, Philip (12 April 2020). "Coronavirus in China: Wuhan's chronicler of daily lies branded a 'traitor'". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
- ^ "Wuhan Diary by Fang Fang". HarperCollins.
- ^ a b c d e f Zhang, Shuyu (2025). "Manufacturing Consent and "Correct Collective Memory"". In Hillman, Ben; Ji, Fengyuan (eds.). The Communist Party of China: Understanding the Durability of the World's Most Powerful Political Organization. New York: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781009668385. ISBN 978-1-009-66843-9.
- ^ a b Feng, Emily (14 May 2020). "'Wuhan Diary' Brings Account Of China's Coronavirus Outbreak To English Speakers". NPR. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
- ^ "Wuhan Diary". Hoffmann und Campe Verlag (in German).
- ^ Kiki Zhao (14 February 2020). "The Coronavirus Story Is Too Big for China to Spin". The New York Times.