Heartthrob novelist Han Han and a gun

On 20 August, popular author Han Han was scheduled appear at a press conference in Beijing before sitting down with his agent Lu Jinbo and novelist Zhang Yueran to discuss contemporary literature. He arrived later than the press expected; the reason given in the next day’s Guangzhou Daily was that he had been detained at the Zhuhai airport when a gun was discovered in his luggage; Shanghai Youth Daily carried a similar report. From the GD report:

According to airport regulations, guns are not allowed on aircraft, even if they are toy guns. Han Han had no idea about this, though he had ridden on planes many times. As a result, he and his gun were taken into custody by the Guangzhou police. Objecting at first, Han Han shouted his own name loudly: “I’m Han Han!” But it was no use. Ha Han was taken by the police to an interrogation room, the toy gun was confiscated, he recorded the first confession he had made in his life, and had four photos taken of his head from all angles.

Shortly after this article appeared on the paper’s website, Han Han made a blog post accusing the reporter of fabricating the story, or at the very least, smearing his character by combining a joke he made about his late arrival with details from a separate event. Han acknowledges that the previous week he had been stopped at Shanghai’s Pudong airport when an unopened gift from a fan turned out to contain a toy pistol, but he says that the episode was over in minutes when security staff simply confiscated it — no shouting or signed confessions.

And now he’s threatened to sue the two papers. He has two specific complaints the articles: first, by writing that he “repeatedly told the reporter that he didn’t know that it was illegal to bring a toy gun onto an airplane,” the paper made him look like an idiot. Second, reporting that he shouted “I’m Han Han” made him out to be arrogant and self-important, as if he were trying to use his celebrity to receive privileged treatment.

Indeed, as personal identifications go, Han Han’s image as an iconoclastic, somewhat aloof blog warrior and literary prodigy is more in line with an “I’m Batman”-style statement of fact rather than an “I’m Rick James, bitch”-like assertion of privilege.

Then, on 24 August, five women were shopping at a jewelry store when the shop owner thought that one of the women, Yang Jianhua, had stolen a ring (Yang later explained that it was a gift from her husband). When Yang and her friends left the building, they were beaten by a dozen people. Yang said “I’m a CPPCC delegate,” to which one attacker replied, “Then I’ll beat a CPPCC delegate!”

It’s easy to say that Yang was trying to claim special privilege, that she was using her position as a local CPPCC delegate in the same way that Han Han was accused of using his celebrity.

But is that truly the case? In a recent blog post, journalist Teng Yun picked apart the differences between the two situations:

Han Han wants to sue two media organizations. His reasons center around one sentence: “I’m Han Han.” He says that he never yelled that sentence at an airport, that it was fabricated by the reporter. He also says that the reason he didn’t yell that sentence is because he isn’t that shameless. Yesterday, two CPPCC delegates from Huangshi encountered problems. They went shopping in Vantone, and then were fingered as thieves and beaten. In danger, they yelled “I’m a CPPCC delegate!” But it was all for naught — they were beaten even harder: “Then I’ll beat a CPPCC delegate!” In The Beijing News, this was reported under the headline “Huangshi, Hubei, CPPCC delegate beaten by mob while shopping in Beijing.” Quite an axe they’re grinding.

Unquestionably, it’s wrong to beat people — no need for debate. And it is entirely normal that the two CPPCC delegates would shout “I’m a CPPCC delegate” as a lifeline when they saw that they were in personal danger. But the nature of the two situations, “shouting” and “not shouting,” leads one to associate the two together.

The question we must ask is why Han Han would lose face if he shouted “I’m Han Han.” We have to look at the context to those words — Han Han carrying a prohibited item onto a plane. When you’ve done something wrong, and then shout “I’m Han Han,” the attitude it conveys is arrogance, as if you want to resist law enforcement and the law through your own special position. Han Han is no fool; of course he wouldn’t shout that sentence. Not only that, he’d take it as slander or a frame-up if someone said he shouted it, and he’d sue them.

It’s understandable that the CPPCC delegates shouted, for their personal safety was being threatened. Using those words is like dialing an emergency number. The situation is that they were unjustly accused, they were the victims. So their shouting was an attempt to save themselves and demonstrate their innocence, decidedly unlike the nature of “I’m Han Han.”

So the two “I’m…,” the one not shouted was correctly not shouted; we can’t say that the shouted one was shouted incorrectly. But from the outcome, we see that not shouting and shouting both led to bitter consequences. How much has Han Han been flamed? The CPPCC delegates were fine until they shouted, and then it was, “Then I’ll beat a CPPCC delegate!” Why did the vendors become fiercer when they heard those words? This question needs serious consideration.

Regardless of the outcome of any potential libel suit, China’s entertainment media hasn’t really acquitted itself well in the “I’m Han Han” affair. For more evidence, check out Lu Jinbo’s transcript of the conversation between Han and Zhang Yueran. It’s inane and soporific up until the moment the reporters are ushered out, leaving only Han, Zhang, and Lu. Then it becomes an interesting discussion of contemporary literature, the function of the Chinese Writers’ Association, and young adult life.