Nonviolence Handbook in Chinese

The Nonviolence Handbook by Michael N. Nagler

I WAS ALREADY an enthusiastic student of nonviolence on that fateful day in June, 1989, when the Chinese military rolled into Beijing’s central Tiananmen Square and murdered thousands of students protesting for a Western-style democracy.  Since that tragic event I’ve felt that my life has no other purpose.  So I was delighted when a Chinese friend of mine offered to translate this handbook—which now is even more relevant with a new and serious-looking wave of protests in China.

Learning about nonviolence—its rich history, the science behind it, the infinite variety of its applications—is often the first step in becoming a more nonviolent person.  Just as in Iran, many people are feeling forced to take to the streets without a basic exposure to nonviolence, which Gandhi called the greatest power we humans have been endowed with, but which is still rarely encountered in educational institutions or the media.

Susan Shirk, in her October 2022 opinion piece for the NYT, wrote perceptively that, “Xi Jinping Has Fallen Into the Dictator Trap” (unable to admit mistakes, relying on oppression when it no longer works). Perhaps he will see that the only way out is to listen to what the people are trying to tell him through nonviolent demonstrations.

~Michael Nagler