Liang Xiaosheng on Dang'an

Chinese writer Liang Xiaosheng's (梁晓声) castigation of dang'an (personal dossiers in China privy only to one's superiors) depicted both the helplessness and indignation of countless Chinese, particularly before the country's reform and opening up process. (自白, or Self Confession, Jingji Ribao Publishing Press, 1997)

"为什么不允许一个人知道自己的档案里装着一些有关自己, 有关自己父母和亲属的什么材料呢? 它象个影子似的, 跟随着你一辈子, 你觉得自己是个好人, 你努力象个好人那么生活, 但它却很可能向许多人证明你是个坏人. 许多人相信它远胜过相信你在生活中在工作中在实际行为和表现. "不得委以重任", "有政治野心", "思想意识不良", "品行不端", 等等, 等等. 这样的一些评语曾写在多少人的各种鉴定上啊! 而写鉴定的人又不见得是个正人君子. 你死了, 火化了, 装进了骨灰盒. 你的档案, 又成了你儿子或你女儿档案的一部分. 这样一想都够令人七窍生烟的!"

(Why is one not allowed to know the information about oneself, parents, and relatives that are contained in the dossier? It is like a shadow that follows you all your life. You may feel that you are a good person, and you do your best to live like a good person. But the dossier may prove to many people that you are a bad person. Many people believe in the dossier more than your actual behavior and performance in your real life and work.

"This person should not be entrusted with important responsibilities," "this person has political ambitions," "this person has unhealthy thinking and thoughts," "this person has poor conduct," etc etc. These comments had been written on the dossiers of countless people! And those who had written those comments were not necessarily upright people. Even after you die and are cremated and your ashes stored in urns, your dossier will become part of your son's or daughter's dossier. Even thinking about it is enough to make one fume with anger.")