Black and White Cat

(Update: The word is that the attackers have now been caught. Some details known, others not yet clear.

Update 2: One of them was indeed caught and will now stand trial.

Update 3: The attacker has been convicted and sentenced to four and a half years in prison.)

Big-name Chinese blogger Xu Lai, better known as ProState in Flames, was stabbed at the One Way Street bookshop in the Wanda Plaza, Chaoyang district, Beijing, on Saturday afternoon, just after a talk he gave to readers of his blog and his book Fanciful Creatures (想象中的动物). It seems highly probable, though not yet known for certain, that his attackers were offended by his blog.

(All links in this post are to Chinese-language sites. Except this one: not surprisingly EastSouthWestNorth was translating much of the same article as me at the same time.)

For most English-language readers, the name ProState in Flames probably means very little. For Chinese-language readers, however, he’s very well-known. Xu Lai may not have quite the megastar status of Han Han, but he’s very much an A-list blogger. There are three blogs I visit each day before I read anything else: EastSouthWestNorth, Danwei and ProState in Flames. It’s purely a matter of chance which I open first.

Below is a translation of a Southern Metropolis Daily report on the attack. (See also: my1510 - the source of the photo above - Hecaitou and 1984bbs.)

ProState in Flames is an extremely well-known blog. At 4 o’clock yesterday afternoon, it’s writer, Xu Lai (internet name ProState), was stabbed in the stomach by two thugs at the end of a meet-the-readers event at a bookshop in Beijing. His attackers are currently still at large and their motives are unknown. After emergency treatment in hospital, ProState is in good condition and his life is not in danger.

Invited to attend a small meet-the-readers event

Xu Lai’s book Fanciful Creatures introduces him as a native of Jiangsu province, a lover of mythology and divination and the owner of the blog ProState in Flames. He has worked as a reporter, editor and commentator for various media in Beijing and Shanghai. He won the best novel category at the 30th Hong Kong Youth Literary Awards.

Yesterday afternoon, between 2 and 4pm, the One Way Street bookshop in Beijing held a small event for Xu Lai to meet his readers. The topic was ProState’s “trivial pursuits.” In a post by “Bo Tong” at the 1984bbs forum (ProState is one of the forum’s administrators), the writer says he went to the event and describes what happened as follows:

“Xu Lai arrived about 2 o’clock. After chatting with the host, he began to talk freely and confidently about his “trivial pursuits” and his understanding of notebook novels. (I don’t know why, but during the talk there was a lot of noise on the first floor and requests for quiet had no effect.) After the talk, he answered various questions, mostly about his book Fanciful Creatures, comparisons between himself and other writers of the post-80s generation, his blog and his ideology and ideals etc. ProState kept saying, modestly, that he’s a clumsy speaker and when answering questions on sensitive subjects, he spoke obliquely. There were none of the revalations we would have expected. His main subject was literary experience and creative feelings.”

Two men forced “ProState” into the men’s toilet and attacked him

21st Century Business Herald reporter Guo Jianlong, who was at the scene, says he was on the first floor when the incident took place. Xu Lai was chatting with several people on the second floor. Guo Jianlong suddenly noticed there was a great commotion. Moments later, he realized Xu Lai was at the top of the staircase on the second floor, clutching his stomach and leaning against the wall. Xu Lai’s wife later told Guo that after the talk, two men forced Xu Lai into the mens toilet. She felt something was wrong so she pushed her way in to see what was going on and discovered the two men were attacking him. One was holding a kitchen knife, the other holding a dagger. One of them was preparing to hack Xu Lai’s hand with the vegetable knife. Having been discovered, the two men rushed out of the shop and ran in the direction of Chang’an Avenue. They were chased, but they got away. Someone at the scene took a blurred picture of the attackers and there’s a cctv camera on the street so it should be possible to obtain a true likeness of the attackers.

Yesterday, at 4.55pm, netizen “Zola” quickly sent out a Twitter message: “Guo Jianlong phoned: ProState is lying on the ground clutching his stomach. I told them to cover the wound with their hands to stop the blood, keep him calm and his breathing relaxed so he has chance of survival.” “Not life-threatening, only one stab wound, Guo Jianlong and Xu Lai’s wife went to the hospital together. Stab wound is about the length of a hand, a lot of blood. Mood stable. On the way to hospital.” Guo Jianlong confirmed the contents of that phone call to the Southern Metropolis Daily.

Blog probably created enemies

Another well-known blogger, “Hecaitou,” says he saw a photograph taken at the scene after Xu Lai was rescued, in which Xu was on the floor, clutching his stomach. At that time someone heard one of the attackers say, “You brought this on yourself. You know why we’re doing this don’t you?”

The news quickly spread on the internet. Netizen “doubleleaf” sent out constant Twitter updates from his mobile phone.

Guo Jianlong says that after the crime was reported, the police were the first to arrive. The ambulance didn’t arrive until about 10 minutes later. At first there wasn’t much loss of blood and it was only when Xu arrived at the hospital that the blood flow increased. Xu Lai remained conscious throughout. Zhang Shougang, who helped move Xu at the hospital says he was taken from the the emergency ward to the operating theater at about 7pm. When they were lifting him, the blood hadn’t been cleaned from his body and Zhang’s hands were covered in blood.

At about 10.25 last night, Hecaitou received a phone call from Xu’s family who told him the operation was over. The knife had punctured a small hole in his body which had been stitched up. He was fully conscious and his blood pressure was normal. Hecaitou said Xu Lai is a low-key sort of person and he’s just a science journalist who wouldn’t provoke anyone. However, there are many things on his blog that can touch a nerve and he has probably made enemies that way.