Tearfully urge

含泪劝告 (hán lèi quàn gào): tearfully urge

This phrase comes from an essay written by Yu Qiuyu several months after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. The title of the essay is “A Tearful Request for the Earthquake Survivors” (含泪劝告请愿灾民). In the essay, Yu urges parents of the approximately 9,000 students who died in poorly constructed buildings to stop their protests against the government. He suggests that the parents were being used by those with "ulterior motives" and by “anti-Chinese forces.” Yu’s essay can be found here in translation and here in Chinese.

Many netizens were angered by Yu’s essay, accusing him of trying to protect the corrupt politicians and contractors that led to the student deaths. Some “tearfully urged Yu Qiuyu to jump in a river” (含泪劝告余秋雨去投江).

There have been many parodies of the phrase “tearfully urge” (see, here).

Angered by the criticism and the parodies of his essay, Yu Qiuyu wrote an essay entitled, "You Are Not Permitted To Continue Insulting The Chinese People." (English | Chinese)

Yu Qiuyu with a copy of his essay "A Tearful Request to the Earthquake Survivors."

文件:Tears2.jpg

Banner reads, "The children did not die directly from the natural disaster; they died because of dangerous buildings."