Tearfully urge

hánlèi quàngào 含泪劝告

Yu Qiuyu with a copy of his inflammatory essay. (Artist: Ah Niu 阿牛)

Infamous appeal to victims of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake to stop complaining about the shoddy construction of schools, which led to the deaths of thousands of school children.

The 7.9-magnitude earthquake that struck mountainous Wenchuan County, Sichuan on May 12, 2008 claimed the lives of over 5,000 children, whose poorly built "tofu dregs" schools collapsed on them. Government buildings weathered the quake far better. Angry parents were begged to stop protesting. Some were detained at the scene or at protests, while others called off memorials following official warnings.

A month after the quake, literary figure Yu Qiuyu penned the essay "A Tearful Request for the Earthquake Survivors" (含泪劝告请愿灾民), in which he implored parents to stop their protests. He suggested the parents were being used by those with "ulterior motives" and by "anti-Chinese forces." Many netizens accused Yu of trying to protect the corrupt politicians and contractors whose greed and negligence had led to so many deaths. Some "tearfully urged Yu Qiuyu to jump in a river" (含泪劝告余秋雨去投江).

Angered by the criticism and the parodies of his essay, Yu wrote a reply to his critics, "You Are Not Permitted to Continue Insulting the Chinese People" (不准继续侮辱中国人).

Blogger Huang Lin has written an exposition on the "fashion of the tearfully urging writing style."

Artist Ai Weiwei lead an effort to collect the names of the schoolchildren, resulting in the performance piece "Commemoration." He and the volunteers who came with him to Sichuan faced police harassment. Ai also created an installation spelling out a quote from one grieving mother—'she lived happily on this earth for seven years'—using 9,000 student backpacks. The activist Tan Zuoren served a five-year sentence for "inciting subversion of state power" after he tried to compile a list of the children's names.

In the lead-up to the 10th anniversary of the deadly quake, Wenchuan County officials announced that May 12, 2018 would be declared a day of "thanksgiving" for government rebuilding efforts over the previous decade. This announcement drew scorn from Chinese web-users who felt that a day of memorial for the many thousands of lives lost would be far more appropriate.

See also even the destruction is a blessing.