Emperor Cuckoo: Human interest in China

A woman in black 
 一名女子身着黑色衣服  Yī míng nǚzǐ shēnzhe hēisè yīfu

Yesterday at around 11 a.m., a man in tattered clothing suddenly fell to the ground outside the Guiyou building on East Yunjing Road in Beijing's Tongzhou district; soon afterward, a young woman performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, and seeing that the man regained consciousness, she went away without saying a word.
昨天上午11点左右，一位衣衫破旧的男子突然倒在通州区云景东路贵友大厦门口，随后，一名年轻女子对其进行了人工呼吸，在看见男子醒来后，女子悄然离开。
Zuótiān shàngwǔ 11 diǎn zuǒyòu, yí wèi yīshān pòjiù de nánzǐ tūrán dǎo zài Tōngzhōu Qū Yúnjǐng Dōng Lù Guìyǒu dàshà ménkǒu, suíhòu, yì míng niánqīng nǘzǐ duì qí jìnxíng le réngōng hūxī, zài kànjiàn nánzǐ xǐnglái hòu, nǘzǐ qiǎorán líkāi. 

[Photo: Having performed CPR, a woman begins emergency mouth-to-mouth resuscitation 心脏按压过后进行人工呼吸抢救 Xīnzàng ànyā guòhòu jìnxíng réngōng hūxī qiǎngjiù]

Mr. Zhao, an eyewitness, stated that yesterday at around 11 a.m., a disheveled man who looked like a beggar fell to the ground near the flagpole stand at the entrance to the Guiyou building, and a few minutes later, two young women came out from the building, one of them was dressed in black with her hair done up in braids, and seeing the man lying on the ground, she began to shout loudly, "This man has fainted, dial 120," and then she began to resuscitate him.  Mr. Zhao said many people stopped and stood around watching, and "everyone was praising this young woman for being a Good Samaritan."
目击者赵先生称，昨天上午11点左右，一名蓬头垢面乞丐模样的男子倒在贵友大厦正门口旗杆台附近，几分钟后，从大厦内走出两名年轻女子，其中一名女子身着黑
色衣服，扎马尾辫，见该男子躺在地上便大声呼喊，“这人晕倒了，快打120”，随后对其进行施救。赵先生说，有很多人驻足围观，“大家都在称赞女子见义勇为”。
Mùjīzhě Zhào Xiānsheng chēng, zuótiān shàngwǔ 11 diǎn zuǒyòu, yì míng péngtóugòumiàn qǐgài múyàng de nánzǐ dǎo zài Guìyǒu dàshà zhèng ménkǒu qígān tái fùjìn, jǐ fēnzhōng hòu, cóng dàshà nèi zǒuchū liǎng míng niánqīng nǘzǐ, qízhōng yì míng nǘzǐ shēnzhe hēisè yīfu, zhā mǎ yǐ biàn, jiàn gāi nánzǐ tǎng zài dìshàng biàn dàshēng hūhǎn, "Zhè rén yūndǎo le, kuài dǎ 120," suíhòu duì qí jìnxíng shījiù. Zhào xiānsheng shuō, yǒu hěn duō rén zhùzú wéiguān, "dàjiā dōu zài chēngzàn nǘzǐ jiànyìyǒngwéi." 

Mr. Wang, a cab driver who was near the building waiting for fares, said that the woman in black knelt on the sidewalk and vigorously pressed down on the man's chest, and then she gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, while at the same time patting the man's face; after she'd done this several times, the man opened both eyes and returned to consciousness.  After the woman in black made certain there was no serious problem, she quickly got into a car with her friend and left, and "the beggar sat there for a little while, then all by himself got up and went away."
在该大厦附近等人的司机王先生说，当时，黑衣女子跪在地上，先猛力按压男子胸口，随后口对口进行人工呼吸，同时拍打男子面部，反复几次后，该男子睁开双眼恢复意识。黑衣女子确认男子已无大碍后，很快与同伴上车离开，“乞丐醒来又坐了一会儿，后自行离开”。
Zài gāi dàshà fùjìn děng rén de sījī Wáng xiānsheng shuō, dāngshí, hēiyī nǘzǐ guì zài dìshàng, xiān měnglì ànyā nánzǐ xiōngkǒu, suíhòu kǒu duì kǒu jìnxíng réngōng hūxī, tóngshí pāidǎ nánzǐ miànbù, fǎnfù jǐcì hòu, gāi nánzǐ zhēngkāi shuāngyǎn huīfù yìshí. Hēiyī nǘzǐ quèrèn nánzǐ yǐ wú dà ài hòu, hěn kuài yǔ tóngbàn shàngchē líkāi, "qǐgài xǐnglái yòu zuòle yíhuì'ér, hòu zìxíng líkāi." 

Yesterday, a person in charge at the Guiyou building verified that the survelliance camera showed that yesterday at around 11 a.m., more than 10 people were gathered at the entrance to the building, and vaguely there could be seen a woman in the process of giving artificial respiration to a man who was on the ground.  Then this woman and her friend drove away in a Honda CRV.  
昨天，贵友大厦相关负责人证实，监控录像显示，昨天上午11点左右，有10多名市民聚集在该大厦正门附近，依稀可见一名女子正在对倒地男子进行人工呼吸。随后，该女子和同伴驾驶一辆本田CRV离开。
Zuótiān, Guìyǒu dàshà xiāngguān fùzérén zhèngshí, jiānkòng lùxiàng xiǎnshì, zuótiān shàngwǔ 11 diǎn zuǒyòu, yǒu 10 duō míng shìmín jùjí zài gāi dàshà zhèngmén fùjìn, yīxī kějiàn yì míng nǘzǐ zhèngzài duì dǎodì nánzǐ jìnxíng réngōng hūxī. Suíhòu, gāi nǘzǐ hé tóngbàn jiàshǐ yí liàng Běntián CRV líkāi. 

But there also were a few residents who had questions about the two women, and suspected this was some sort of hype. 
但也有居民质疑两人的身份，怀疑是炒作行为。
Dàn yě yǒu jūmín zhìyí liǎng rén de shēnfen, huáiyí shì chǎozuò xíngwéi.

Source: 《杭州网》2011-11/15: "女子人工呼吸救醒'晕倒男' 监控录像记录全程"  online

Does a good thing, doesn't talk about it...
(做了好事不声张  Zuò le hǎoshì bù shēngzhāng)

By early March in Hebei Province, the icy rivers are beginning to thaw ... On the afternoon of March 9th, Du Chengping, a 57-year-old farmer who lives in a village in Canzhou, was carrying a sack of corn on his bicycle on his way to a neighboring village, when he noticed "something really strange" (不对劲儿 bù duìjìnr) in the middle of the river ... As he looked closely, he realized it was a head bobbing up and down ... "This isn't good, someone's fallen into the river" 
(不好，有人落水 Bù hǎo, yǒu rén luòshuǐ)...
...
"With no time left to think about it, the old man jumped into the icy river and -- unexpectedly -- saved the lives of two children who had fallen into the water" (老汉来不及多想，一个人跳下冰河，竟然救起两名落水儿童  Lǎohàn láibují duō xiǎng, yī gèrén tiàoxià bīnghé, jìngrán jiùqǐ liǎng míng luòshuǐ értóng) ...
...
When the reporter arrived at the village in Canzhou where Du Chengping lives, he found the 57-year-old was "reticent about the incident: Is this such a big thing? " (57岁的他显得有些拘束：这事儿有这么大吗？57 suì de tā xiǎnde yǒuxiē jūshù：Zhè shìr yǒu zhème dà ma?) ...
This is what happened: Having spotted someone in the water, Du Chengping threw his bike aside and rushed down the embankment ... "The river was thawing and there were chunks of ice by the shore" (河里的冰已经化了，只在河边留有残冰 Hé lǐ de bīng yǐjing huà le, zhǐ zài hébiān liúyǒu cán bīng) ... Then he could see clearly it was a six- or seven-year-old boy ... As he was throwing off his overcoat, "the boy saw him and cried out, 'Yeye,'  then went under" (那个孩子看到了他， 只喊了一声“爷爷”就沉了下去 Nàge háizi kàndào le tā, zhǐ hǎn le yī shēng“yéye”jiù chén liǎo xiàqu) ...  ["Yeye" = "Gramps" -- a term used by children to address old men] ...
...
Without thinking, he jumped into the icy river ... "It was then that Du Chengping was shocked to discover there was yet another child in the water" (但令杜成平震惊的是，此时他发现河里竟然还有一个孩子 Dàn lìng Dù Chéngpíng zhènjīng de shì, cǐshí tā fāxiàn hé lǐ jìngrán háiyǒu yī gè háizi)...
...
He formed a triangle with the two children, but because digging had caused the embankment to be steep and the water to drop off deeply, and there was a small chance he too would slip into the deeper water, "he was afraid he wouldn't be able to make it back" (只怕也是有去无回 zhǐpà yě shì yǒuqùwúhuí), "but with great presence of mind" (他急中生智  tā jízhōngshēngzhì), with one hand he took hold of the broken ice along the shore (一只手紧紧抓住岸边的残冰 yī zhīshǒu jǐnjǐn zhuāzhù ànbiān de cán bīng), then he grabbed the boy he'd seen first ... [He] dragged him into shallow water by letting him grasp his own cotton-padded pants ... After that, he went back to find the second child, "but because that child was almost unconscious, he had to use all his strength to pull the child out" (因为那个孩子几乎已无意识，他只能用尽全身力气将其托起 Yīnwèi nàge háizi jīhū yǐ wúyìshí, tā zhǐnéng yòngjìn quánshēn lìqi jiāng qí tuō qǐ) ...
...
Du Chengping was exhausted from pulling the children to safety, and did not have enough energy to carry them up the embankment, and his clothing was soaked through, but he remained calm and began to call for help while waiting for others to come along ... 
...
About ten minutes later, a truck came by and three men seeing the situation didn't hesitate to jump down and help with the rescue ... They lifted the two children up onto the embankment, and then got him up too ... The children were taken for emergency medical treatment, and their lives were saved (孩子们被送走抢救后得救 Háizimen bèi sòngzǒu qiǎngjiù hòu déjiù)... 
...
Du Chengping's clothing was soaked through and through, he was taken home in a car ... There was noboby home, "so he changed his clothing, then went back to the scene of the accident, got his bike and his sack of corn, and continued on his way to grind his corn (老汉自己换身衣服，然后又回到现场推起自行车，去磨他的玉米去了 Lǎohàn zìjǐ huàn shēn yīfu，ránhòu yòu huídào xiànchǎng tuī qǐ zìxíngchē, qù mó tā de yùmǐ qùle)...
...
"Later that evening, the family of the rescued children came looking for Du Chengping ... It was really moving when the old man not only refused any monetary reward, but also gifts, saying 'I don't want anything'" (被救家庭经过打听连夜找到了杜成平。令人感动的是，老人不但拒绝酬金，连慰问品都“一点儿不要” Bèi jiù jiātíng jīngguò dǎting liányè zhǎodào le Dù Chéngpíng.  Lìngrén gǎndòng de shì, lǎorén bùdàn jùjué chóujīn, lián wèiwèn pǐn dōu “yīdiǎnr bùyào”)...
...
Finally, they said to him: If we have to take back the eggs, they will break ... "Hearing this, the old man kept the eggs," but as for the other things, because they were manufactured and wouldn't spoil if they were taken back, he said "I don't want anything that's packaged" (听到这些老人才留下了鸡蛋，但其他“只要带包装盒的”一概不要 Tīngdào zhèxiē lǎorén cái liúxià le jīdàn... dàn qítā “zhǐyào dài bāozhuāng hé de” yīgài bùyào) ...
The village Party secretary, Du Jinhe, said that Du Chengping is an ordinary villager, and to tell the truth the old man's health hasn't been very good ... "The other villagers said they didn't know anything about this," and Du Jinhe said he'd only heard about it the other day "by chance from people outside of the village" 
(村上人们也不知道这事，在外面偶然听别人说的 Cūn shàngrén men yě bùzhīdào zhè shì ... zài wàimiàn ǒurán tīng biéren shuō de)...

Sources: 《渤海早报》2011-03/13 第7版：“57岁老农冰河救起俩儿童” and online version

(诬陷 wūxiàn)

This is a brief follow-up to our October 4th post, "Turning a blind eye" (Category: Empathy) ... There we drew attention to a young man who expressed concern on a BBS:  Are you worried about an elderly person in your home going outside alone and falling down, and no one offers to lend a hand? ... Some readers of the BBS post replied that they feared being "framed" by an older person and forced to pay damages to that older person, when in fact they were trying to help ... One or two cited the case of an elderly woman from Nanjing who successfully sued a good samaritan ...

An article titled "Elderly women who have fallen down are most likely to 'frame' those who try to help them",  was published in today's edition of Modern Express 《现代快报》2011-10/09 第A10版：“老太太跌倒被扶最爱‘诬陷’ ” 《Xiàndài Kuàibào》2011-10/09 Dì A10 Bǎn：“Lǎotàitai diēdǎo bèi fú zuì ài‘wūxiàn’ ” ...

The reporter begins with a "hot topic" lead-in:  "Many are debating the question whether, if you come across an old person who's fallen down, you should  lend a hand" ...
路遇跌倒老人，扶还是不扶，让许多人纠结。Lù yù diēdǎo lǎorén, fú háishi bù fú, ràng xǔduō rén jiūjié...

The reporter says he has analyzed statistics gathered in recent years from media reports from around the nation; there have been 15 instances of old people falling down on the street and "framing" the person who (apparently) was trying to help ...  
记者对近年来媒体报道的全国15起搀扶街头摔倒老人反被“诬陷”的事例进行统计分析  Jìzhě duì jìnniánlái méitǐ bàodào de quánguó 15 qǐ chānfú jiētóu shuāidǎo lǎorén fǎn bèi “wūxiàn” de shìlì jìnxíng tǒngjì fēnxi...

According to the reporter, the statistics show that "decent people who've helped others are being framed mainly by elderly women," and, "of those who have been framed, most are young men in the prime of life ... one out of three was unable to prove good intentions and had to pay damages, even when it was clear that they were being framed, they had to accept responsibility"...
发现被搀扶后“诬陷”好心人的，基本上都是老太太 ... 而受到“诬陷”的，多为青壮年男性, .其中三分之一的搀扶者因无法自证清白给老人赔付了损失, 虽有人自证了清白诬陷者却无一担责 ... Fāxiàn bèi chānfú hòu“wūxiàn”hǎoxīnrén de，jīběnshang dōu shì lǎotàitai,  ér shòudào “wūxiàn” de, duō wèi qīng zhuàngnián nánxìng ... qízhōng sānfēn zhīyī de chānfú zhě yīn wúfǎ zì zhèng qīngbái gěi lǎorén péi fù le sǔnshī, suī yǒurén zì zhèng liǎoqīng bái wūxiàn zhě què wú yī dān zé ...

The reporter says, "Now experts are making an appeal for a mechanism to have the people who are doing the framing pay the price for this harmful behavior" ...
专家呼吁，应对诬陷者建立追责机制，让他们为自己的不良行为付出代价。Zhuānjiā hūyù，yìngduì wūxiàn zhě jiànlì zhuī zé jīzhì，ràng tāmen wèi zìjǐ de bùliáng xíngwéi fùchū dàijià.

A psychologist is quoted as saying, "The health of older ladies is poor, their reactions frequently aren't good, and when they suddenly find themselves falling down, they aren't clear about how it happened and think some mischief was involved ... When they open their eyes, what they see is the person who actually is trying to help them" ...
老年女性身体差，反应能力也往往更差，遇到突发情况跌倒时往往看不清肇事者真正抬眼看清的恰恰是搀扶她起来的人 Lǎonián nǚxìng shēntǐ chà，fǎnyìng nénglì yě wǎngwǎng gèng chà, yùdào tūfā qíngkuàng diēdǎo shí wǎngwǎng kànbuqīng zhàoshìzhě, zhēnzhèng tái yǎnkàn qīng de qiàqià shì chānfú tā qǐlai de rén....

"If they are seriously hurt and require expensive medical care, and if they can't say with certainty who tried to harm them, then they'd rather say it was the person who helped them, and are reluctant to accept that the real culprit may have gotten away" ... 
如果伤势较重可能需要花费较高医疗费，当她们不能准确断定肇事者时，有的人宁可相信搀扶者就是肇事者，也不愿让“嫌疑人”就那么跑掉。"Rúguǒ shāngshì jiào zhòng kěnéng xūyào huāfèi jiàogāo yīliáo fèi，dāng tāmen bùnéng zhǔnquè duàndìng zhàoshìzhě shí，yǒude rén nìngkě xiāngxìn chānfú zhě jiùshì zhàoshìzhě，yě bù yuàn ràng“xiányí rén” jiù nàme pǎodiào."...

The article ends on several cautionary notes for young people, "especially young men in their twenties, because these young men are willing to extend a helping hand without thinking twice,  they don't think of protecting themselves, and don't check whether there are witnesses, and easily fall into a situation where they are framed and can't clear themselves."...
"青壮年男性尤其是二十多岁的小伙子，做事热情有余，思考不足，路见危难立刻伸手相助，没考虑自我保护，比如周围有没有其他目击者等，容易陷入被诬后难以洗脱的境地。"Niánqīngrén de rénshēngguān hái méiwán quán gùdìng，zhùrén bèiwū huì ràng tāmen shòudào shānghài，shènzhì huì gǎibiàn duì rénshēng jiàzhí de pànduàn hé kànfǎRóngyì xiànrù bèiwū hòu nányǐ xǐtuō de jìngdì.”...

"Psychologists say that young people's views on life haven't been set, and to help someone and then be falsely accused can seriously harm them, and alter their judgments and perceptions of the value of human life" ....
心理专家说，年轻人的人生观还没完全固定，助人被诬会让他们受到伤害，甚至会改变对人生价值的判断和看法。Xīnlǐ zhuānjiā shuō, niánqīngrén de rénshēngguān hái méiwán quán gùdìng，zhùrén bèiwū huì ràng tāmen shòudào shānghài, shènzhì huì gǎibiàn duì rénshēng jiàzhí de pànduàn hé kànfǎ...

Source《现代快报》2011-10/09 第A10版： “老太太跌倒被扶最爱‘诬陷’ ”

Save the baby!  
["dealing with each case on its own merits"  酌情处理  zhuóqíng chǔlǐ]

The headline for this news item is  "Cabby willingly accepts penalty in order to save a life"  的哥为救人甘愿受罚  Dīgē wèi jiùrén gānyuàn shòufá, and the story is a dramatic mix of the need to save an infant's life balanced against breaking the law ... 

On a recent morning at rush hour, a cabby was hailed by two women who were trying desperately to get a two-month-old child to the emergency room, it seems they'd given the baby sweet ginger water to treat diarrhea, and either the baby was having a reaction to the medicine, or else was choking on the water, but in any event he had gone into shock, and his face had already turned blue, the situation was critical 原来，两个月大的婴儿拉肚子，家人刚刚给他喂药时， 孩子呛了姜糖水，导致休克，脸色发紫， 十分危险。Yuánlái，liǎng ge yuèdà de yīng'ér lā dùzi，jiārén gānggāng gěi tā wèi yào shí， háizi qiāng le jiāng tángshuǐ，dǎozhì xiūkè，liǎnsè fāzǐ， shífēn wēixiǎn.

 ... 
The driver alerted the police, then "stepped on it" and got the baby to the hospital within 15 minutes, mainly by running all the red lights ... The baby's life was saved ... Afterwards, the cabby was cited for  running six red lights and fined 200 yuan (about $32.00) ... No doubt the cabby got off without much of a fine, though, because the reporter notes that the Traffic Bureau, having considered all the factors in the case, "dealt with this case on its own merits" (酌情处理 zhuóqíng chǔlǐ)...

The cabby said: "I am a father myself, the baby's life was the most important thing, and if I have to accept a fine in order to rescue someone, it's worth it!" : “我也是一名父亲，孩子的生命比啥都重要，为救人挨罚，值得！”  “Wǒ yěshì yī míng fùqin，háizi de shēngmìng bǐ shá dōu zhòngyào，wèi jiùrén áifá，zhíde!”

Source: 《新晚报》20110924 第A06版：“的哥为救人甘愿受罚”

...

The Four Essences  (四种精神 sì zhǒng jīngshén)
It's possible that the above article about an ordinary cabby's readiness to save a life is meant to illustrate the city of Harbin's recent adoption of "the four essences" of an ideal community: loyalty, courage, self-sacrifice, and pragmatism  忠诚， 果敢， 牺牲， 务实 zhōngchéng, guǒgǎn, xīshēng, wùshí  ... These "essences" are reported in the same edition as the cabby story, which does seem to highlight self-sacrifice, since the cabby risked his own life by running traffic lights, and he knew he was breaking the law and would have to pay fines, but he ignored the risks and consequences in order to get the baby to the hospital as quickly as possible ...

Note: The formulation "four essences" may be modeled on the ancient writer’s traditional "four essentials": brush, ink, paper and ink stone 湖笔、徽墨、宣纸、端砚 Húbǐ, Huīmò, Xuānzhǐ, Duānyàn, that is, a brush made in Huzhou, ink produced in Huizhou, paper from Xuancheng (Anhui), and an inkstone from Duanyan, in Duanxi (Guangdong) ... The decline in interest in the traditional arts, especially writing by hand and calligraphy, prompted a reader to complain in a different newspaper that the writer’s "four essentials” are disappearing and are being replaced by "four new treasures": cell phone, copier, fax and computer  文房四宝”逐渐减少，取而代之新四宝: 手机, 复印, 传真和电脑 wénfángsìbǎo zhújiàn jiǎnshǎo，qǔ'érdàizhī xīn sì bǎo, shǒujī, fùyìn, chuánzhēn hé diànnǎo ...

Source: 《新晚报》20110924 第A03版：“弘扬四种精神提升城市软实力” 

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"Can't have that to go!"  (不让打包 Bù ràng dǎbāo)

Also reported in the same edition of the New Evening Post《新晚报》is a news item that appears to go directly against the spirit of the above-mentioned "four essences":  A customer in a local Harbin restaurant, having ordered the boiled fish in spicy oil soup, decided to take home what he could not finish eating ... But the waiter refused, saying he couldn't even sell the leftovers to the customer, because they are given to the staff as meals “你就是花钱也不能卖你，剩的油汤给我们服务员做伙食饭呢……”“Nǐ jiùshì huāqián yě bùnéng mài nǐ，shèng de yóu tāng gěi wǒmen fúwùyuán zuò huǒshi fàn ne ”  ... Astounded, the customer argued that he'd paid for the meal, so it was his ... But the waiter still refused,  so the customer notified his family and the newspaper, and the reporter contacted the Food Safety Bureau ... Then he and his family (armed with a video camera), the reporter and the authorities descended on the restaurant, where the manager confirmed that the customer had not been allowed to take home the leftovers for that particular dish ... The manager admitted that "preventing Mr. Sun [the customer] from taking the leftovers away was wrong" and he attributed the error to "inadequate training of the staff“ 承认服务员禁止孙先生将水煮鱼剩汤打包的做法不对，是酒店对服务员培训不到位。Chéngrèn fúwùyuán jìnzhǐ Sūn xiānsheng jiāng shuǐ zhǔ yú shèng tāng dǎbāo de zuòfǎ bùduì，shì jiǔdiàn duì fúwùyuán péixùn bù dàowèi... 
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On inspection, though, it was discovered that the restaurant is able to recycle the leftover oil for about 16 cents a pound ... 

Source:  《新晚报》20110924 第A08版：“‘沸腾鱼乡’忒霸道吃饭剩汤不让打包“


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