The testimony and heartfelt wishes of a volunteer who attended the salon for nearly a year.

After listening to the salon for two years, I took part in the handyman work for six months to one year, mainly taking photos, and found two keynote speakers and presided over it twice. Compared with other elders, my contribution is limited, but after reading the sharing in the group, I really can't bear to sit still. I want to share what I have seen and heard this year. After all, many risks and pressures behind the scenes are not necessarily invisible to everyone.

1. Teacher Wang Kaiyuan is the only one who takes all the risks but only gets one vote. I discuss this problem from two angles:

1) risk: a. political risk. Because the discussion below Sharon is relatively free, especially in the 60th anniversary of reform and opening-up, a large number of China scholars have come to Fei Zhengqing Center, many of whom are relatively liberal. Most of the Fei Zhengqing Center only have 10- 15 minutes to speak, which is a little short for them to fly so far, so we decided to let them speak at the salon, so there were 2-3 lectures almost every day that week, 2 in the afternoon and 1 in the evening. Because many scholars are liberal and come to China to watch, there was some concern in China after they came to the salon, and then the salon group was shut down many times, and the domestic influence extended to us. In fact, people in our volunteer group were also worried at that time, and they still had to return to China after all. What is even more frightening is that teacher Wang Kaiyuan's mailbox was hacked, and China reminded him in a special way. Personally, it is the first time that I have experienced a so-called "white terror" so strongly. All these pressures were borne by Mr. Wang Kaiyuan, especially at his home before. If you want to find his home, you can easily find it. It is such a high risk, but under such great pressure, Teacher Wang Kaiyuan still insists that you can do it at his house if necessary in the future. We won't have these risks, so you have to bear them. I am a vulgar person. I can only say that if I were teacher Wang Kaiyuan, I wouldn't dare to put the salon in my home, let alone take responsibility. I almost wanted to quit the volunteer team at that time. Because of this risk and fear, Teacher Wang Kaiyuan's words gave me a sedative. I am still very touched by teacher Wang Kaiyuan's sense of responsibility.

B. reputational risk. Salon used to be called "Harvard Salon", but it was publicly reported by a classmate. Specifically, he crusaded in a large public group, saying that Sharon "infringed on Harvard's copyright and stole Harvard's reputation", and then wrote a formal letter to the school to report Sharon. At that time, Mr. Wang Kaiyuan took on all personal attacks, accusations and reports, and finally the report to the school was also directed at Mr. Wang Kaiyuan. Although the salon has such a long history, he didn't name it, and there are so many people doing it. Teacher Wang Kaiyuan didn't say that we should all bear the responsibility together, but he took over the real-name reports at the school level and the personal level. It really confirms what he said, "He will resist risks and vote for everyone." To tell the truth, if the enterprise operates, the risks and benefits are equal. Teacher Wang Kaiyuan is completely unequal, with high risk and only one vote. A group of friends said before that people who donate money can't participate in management. Yes, but in most cases, donors can have some demands, such as naming scholarships in his name, designating research in a certain subject, and even having some school places. Teacher Wang Kaiyuan spends money and takes risks here. He was busy setting the table and pouring tea all week before. Teacher Wang Kaiyuan is a volunteer student like us. She treats us equally and pours tea for us. I witnessed the report of Mr. Wang Kaiyuan by the Chinese community at that time. Under the great pressure of being reported by Harvard officials, I spent a long time coordinating and communicating with leaders at all levels in Fei Zhengqing Center, repeatedly writing letters, communicating and visiting face to face. Finally, in order to get the support of the school, I even said that I could donate this house 1709 for the salon in the future. I don't know who can protect the salon like teacher Wang Kaiyuan in the face of such a crisis.

2) Whether there is only one vote for Teacher Wang Kaiyuan.

My personal experience, yes. At that time, Mr. Wang Kaiyuan sent a request for a lecture from his friend, which was very detailed, and the typesetting could be sent directly. But what I personally experienced was that several members of the management team voted against it by one more vote, and this friend of Mr. Wang Kaiyuan was rejected. Then Mr. Wang Kaiyuan went to play the bad COP and refused. The person invited by Teacher Wang Kaiyuan himself will let us vote, which is completely fair. There are indeed cases of rejection.

I think procedural justice is more important than result justice. The previous procedural justice was that "the previous group had the right to make suggestions, but had no direct decision-making power". This was agreed before. Don't complain, "There was a teacher's objection before this time, but the management team passed. How can the lecture go on normally?" According to the established procedure, the lecture should be conducted normally. Personally, I think it may not be appropriate for the current management team if the elders can give advice and forcibly interfere. After leaving office, Premier Zhu Rongji, a talented person, basically won't comment on and interfere with politics at that time. Everyone can see some consequences of listening to politics later.

Personally, I am not in Boston now. I study religion at the University of Chicago. One of my professors and teachers is a doctor of medicine. He teaches some courses related to Chinese medicine in the public health center and also teaches courses in the department of religion. Traditional Chinese medicine has a profound cultural tradition, which can be studied by anthropological and religious paradigms, but it may not completely conform to the scientific paradigm. I have been listening to this lecture online. The lecture may indeed have room for improvement in the scientific paradigm, and the resume is scarred. I think this is where we can learn from and improve together when we find problems.

Kennedy said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. Moreover, citizens pay taxes to the country and have the right to supervise the country, but they still have to ask themselves what they can do for the country. For the ordinary audience, Sharon has never received a penny from the audience. Everything is done by volunteers. They spend time, energy and sometimes even some money. Now, I can't bear to see Mr. Wang Kaiyuan, who has made the greatest contribution, and the management team that has made so much effort is so aggressively targeted, especially because a girl quit because of too much pressure. If I am still a member of the volunteer team, I don't think I can bear such great pressure and want to quit. It's not easy to find a volunteer. It will take nearly a year to make a commitment. If you do live broadcast, you will come regardless of whether the lecture is attractive to you or not. To be the official account of WeChat, the day before the lecture, I was suddenly notified to be the official account of WeChat 1-2, and I often had to modify it back and forth. Prior to this, Jia Lu was rushing to school while catching up with the deadline for editing the official WeChat account, which was very hard. Many people who speak in the group are just consumers, and they are also free consumers. Now they have started active personal censorship. It is generally necessary to review the management team of Teacher Wang Kaiyuan. Does it really fit?

As for the crowded management team, according to my previous experience as a photographer in the salon for one year, I really couldn't go to every scene because I was busy with my studies, especially the 60th anniversary of the reform and opening up of Fei Zhengqing Center, especially the time when Teacher Li came into contact with me. At that time, it was really difficult to guarantee that one or two people in the official WeChat account could handle photography and editing. However, I couldn't leave the school meeting several times, and I tried my best. When I am busy many times a day, Jia Lu, the editor of WeChat official account, is also very hard. Besides, she is still preparing her doctoral application. Fortunately, Yingchun finally came to give me a hand. This is why there are many people in the management team. It seems simple to everyone. In such a busy school, it is really not easy for a free volunteer team to do it.

6. I understand everyone's dissatisfaction with Mr. Wang Kaiyuan's re-election as a member of the management team, but according to my experience, I absolutely support Mr. Wang Kaiyuan's long-term re-election as a member of the management team for the following reasons:

1) One of the biggest difficulties in the salon is to find an academic host who is very devoted for a long time, which is very difficult for us student volunteers to find and convince, because it takes a lot of time and energy to screen, convince and public relations. Teacher Li has done it and knows how tired it is. I've done it myself twice. Every time, the speaker is invited to find a judge, and then I will finalize the theme, lecture introduction, host introduction and time with them back and forth. Online communication has to go back and forth repeatedly, and we have to find reviewers of the same level and make up all the time. In fact, it took a lot of time and energy. Those who are willing to be academic hosts really have to sacrifice a lot, so it is not easy to find. Like our academic host Jing Kai this year, he is super excellent, but excellent people are also super busy. Excellent people are generally cautious about agreeing to a big deal, because once they agree, they will be more serious, so Teacher Wang Kaiyuan also repeatedly communicates with public relations. It is almost impossible for us student volunteers to be like him, because time and energy are not allowed and communication skills are not so strong. Only teacher Wang Kaiyuan's high affection for the salon can drive him to do such a thing with such great care and energy.

2) There are two major risks this year, which I mentioned earlier. If we are students, we probably can't quit. First, most of us are going back to China, and political risks are hard to resist. The second is that most of us have studies, and being reported to the school by others will definitely cause great troubles and even risks to our studies. These great risks are resisted by teacher Wang Kaiyuan.

3) There is a man who has lived in Boston for a long time and has his own residence to provide activities (although he doesn't mind making a mess after each activity). He is very attentive, has time and has more resources to aggregate, which is exactly what the salon needs now, and the salon is also very much needed by the audience. Nevertheless, Mr. Wang Kaiyuan set up the chairs by himself many times before the lecture began. At the end of the lecture, sometimes we are too busy to leave, so they clean up the mess at home, including putting away the chairs and slippers. Every time I make tea, I respectfully serve it to visitors and often prepare fruit. I also tried to take out the living room for public activities once in Chicago, and once I got 10 people, and I was half tired of preparing and cleaning up, not to mention that 30-40 people often came to the salon. Some people may say that you can leave Mr. Wang Kaiyuan's house, of course. However, according to my experience in numerous lectures and salons, including my speech and listening at the Boston Cultural Salon, I found that a public space can make people feel strange, and the salon in Cambridge is the most attractive, because it has a relatively closed space, creating a sense of community like home, making everyone feel closer and stranger to each other.

4) Having a person who participated in the salon very early can actually continue this tradition and atmosphere of the salon, and it will not be a fault, which will reduce a lot of communication costs and handover costs. This feeling of the salon can be maintained all the time. To tell the truth, except for teacher Wang Kaiyuan, my volunteers at that time, at least most people, should not know much about the history and evolution of the salon, and this kind of intergenerational transmission only made us know through forming a bond with teacher Wang Kaiyuan. This smell is definitely the warmest place in the salon. Many times, the salon is definitely not just a lecture, but also a warm and warm community. Many people often come here regularly, and everyone knows a lot about each other. I think this smell is an important reason why Cambridge has so many activities and everyone is so busy that they often choose to come here.

5) To sum up, I think Mr. Wang Kaiyuan can be re-elected because Sharon really needs him. Everyone can supervise the management team's one-vote right. If there is a problem that he has power in the future, the management team can seek external supervision.

7. I think so much criticism is actually for the good of the salon. It is easy to "push everyone out of the wall" and it is always easy to be criticized. But the salon is voluntary, and it is unreasonable for volunteers to be criticized for being too excited when they are volunteers. This time, some volunteers have quit, and what volunteers may need now is understanding and support. I want to appeal to everyone, can you give some positive support and be more constructive? Can everyone act more and do more? Instead of putting so much pressure on the volunteers and risking scaring them away, can we learn more in a different way and then think about what we can do for the salon in small things? For example, can the audience not be late every time, can they arrive early to help the management team set up chairs, make tea or help arrange seats? Can you help me collect my seat, pick up some garbage and leave my shoes at the door every time I leave? Can you recommend some speakers, commentators and alternative academic hosts? Salon is free, but if you are interested, can you sometimes bring some fruit to show your gratitude? Can online listeners remember that each mute does not affect others?

I also want to say some immature ideas to my elders and teachers. Thank you very much for your great contribution to the salon in the early days, and because of your so many contributions, I was able to hear about such a good salon during my stay in Boston and was lucky enough to participate in it. This is my best memory during my stay in Boston. People always have some nostalgia and reluctance to bring up their own children, and there are always many expectations and worries, which I can understand very well. However, it's like parents raising their children with a handful of shit. What major do children want to study and what dream do they want to pursue in the end? Or do parents give some advice at most, and the final decision is left to the children? Children always make mistakes. If they do, can you be more tolerant and give more time? After all, only by making mistakes can children grow up, otherwise they will quit or run away from home. Salon club, just like this child, it was very hard for the elders to bring up with one hand, but now the child is slowly growing up, stepping into the formal world and starting to struggle in society. Can parents give their children more time and tolerate more mistakes? After all, when children grow up, it is normal to make mistakes, but it is strange not to make mistakes. Parents can give their children some advice, including professional choice, career dream and marriage partner, but the final decision lies with the children. After all, children have been there all their lives. The ultimate goal of parents is to let go, not to drag their children in their hands. Isn't that what salons are like? Elders can give advice, but it is these volunteers who are really doing things and investing time and energy in their busy schedules. We should trust them and allow them to grow up in their shortcomings. After all, the future operations are all done by volunteers, and the ability of the volunteer team should be exercised. If you fall, you will gain wisdom. Can you give more warm support, give some kind reminders when there are problems, be willing to defend the existing rules and continue to support the team atmosphere after expressing your different opinions, and leave more room for the shortcomings and mistakes of the management team to grow up by themselves? Only in this way can we keep the hearts of volunteers, and only in this way can we make generations willing to continue the fire of the salon with heart.