Cai Yuan Pei 蔡元培 Tomb Vandalised

On Tsing Ming festival, I went with my brother and some of our cousins to pay our respects at the tombs of our grandparents, at the Chinese Cemetery in Aberdeen.  After that, I went to pay my respects at Cai Yuan Pei’s tomb.

His tomb has a new look now.  The big tombstone, is now completely encased by clear plastic sheets.  This is, apparently, to protect it against further damage.  Not from the wind or rain, or other natural causes.  But from vandalism.  Vandalism may not even be the right word.  Because the damage was intentional, pre-meditated and targeted.  The stone is hard. Some tool must have been used, with great force.  

According to the media, someone chipped off parts of the tombstone in November 2019.  It was at the height of the violent confrontation between protestors and the Hong Kong government.  A person from Mainland China subsequently claimed responsibility.  He stated himself that he was angry at the protestors.  He was angry that some media associated a couple of the university presidents in Hong Kong with Cai.  The presidents involved did not actually say they support or even agree with the students.  But they were simply concerned with the students’ safety.  Some people in the media felt that stance had some similarity with Cai’s stance back in the days of the May 4 Movement, in 1919, a hundred years ago.  In those days, Cai, as president of Peking University, did not agree with the actions of the protesting students, but he tried to protect their safety.  

This is what I learned so far. 

Cai was, and continues to be, well-respected by many people across the political spectrum.  He had been a scholar, an educator, rather than a political figure.  He had been dead for 80 years (He died in 1940 in Hong Kong).  It is disturbing that someone would attack his tomb now.  The rationale behind the motivation, as stated by the apparent perpetuator himself, is equally disturbing.  What does such destruction achieve?   

There is just way too much violence, physical as well as verbal, mental, on physical things, institutions, and people.  Way too much faulty reasoning, disproportionate reaction, impulsiveness, lack of self-control. 

Let alone selfishness, bias, bigotry and damnable injustice.