躯壳犹存，灵魂不再

作者：周小星
编辑：程伟 责任编辑：侯改英 校对：熊辩 翻译：吕峰

躯壳犹存，灵魂不再。 看着那辆红色的士，我忽然意识到，一个城市真的会像行尸走肉一样，徒有躯壳，却失去了灵魂。英国人用了一个多世纪，把香港从一个偏僻的小渔村，打造成亚洲乃至世界都尊重的现代大都市。法治、自由、廉洁、高效这些不是空虚的口号，而是英国治理下，一代代香港人累积下来的文明成果，是香港得以与国际并肩的根基。然而中共只用了短短几年，就把这一切摧毁殆尽。

现在走在香港街上， 连霓虹灯都暗了，过去那种熙攘生动的气息完全不见，整座城市像被抽走了血， 变成一滩死水。 港英时期培养出来的那批精英——律师、医生、记者、金融骨干….那些英国人斥巨资、历经几十年心血扶植出的中坚力量，要么被关进监狱，要么举家迁徙。被腾空的位置，很快让位于来自大陆的“忠诚份子”，他们的使命不是建设城市，而是维稳、服从、执行政治任务。街面上的声音也变了。以前走在街上，总能听见粤语夹着英语，那是香港独一无二的韵味；现在到处是普通话大喇叭，仿佛整座城市正在被重新格式化，连空气里的味道都变得怪异陌生。

文明从来不怕时间，它怕的是刻意摧毁。历史一次又一次证明，一旦与共产主义沾上边，文明几乎必然倒退。它像一种腐蚀剂，会把一个地方最珍贵的制度、价值和精神一点点耗尽，使社会从开放倒回封闭，从法治倒回人治，从充满希望倒回压抑和恐惧。今天的香港，就是这一规律最鲜明、最悲伤的例证。街道还在，高楼还在，红色的士还在，外壳似乎完好无损，但那份让香港屹立世界的灵魂却被抽空。文明不是建筑，更不是GDP，而是人的尊严、自由、底线与勇气，是社会愿意让每个人按自己方式活着的胸怀。曾经的香港具备这一切，如今只剩余韵。可灵魂不会真正死去，它散落在每一个仍记得过去、拒绝遗忘、坚持做一个自由人的香港人心里。

The Shell Remains, the Soul Is Gone

Author: Zhou XiaoxingEditor: Cheng WeiExecutive Editor: Hou GaiyingProofreader: Xiong BianTranslation: Lyu Feng

Abstract:It took the British more than a century to transform Hong Kong from a remote fishing village into a modern city respected across Asia and the world. Yet the Chinese Communist Party destroyed it all within just a few years.

The shell remains, but the soul is gone.Looking at that red taxi, I suddenly realized that a city can truly become like the walking dead—its body still standing, yet its soul extinguished.

The British spent over a century turning Hong Kong from a small, remote fishing village into a modern metropolis admired throughout Asia and even the world.Rule of law, freedom, integrity, efficiency—these were never empty slogans, but the fruits of civilization accumulated through generations of Hong Kong people under British governance.They formed the foundation that allowed Hong Kong to stand shoulder to shoulder with the international community.

And yet the Chinese Communist Party destroyed all of this in just a few short years.

Walking through the streets of Hong Kong today, even the neon lights have dimmed. The bustling, vibrant energy of the past has vanished completely. The entire city feels as if its blood has been drained, leaving behind a pool of stagnant water.

The cohort of professionals nurtured during the Hong Kong–Britain era—lawyers, doctors, journalists, financial leaders… the backbone that the British invested heavily in and spent decades cultivating—has either been imprisoned or has left with their families. Their vacated positions were swiftly filled by “loyalists” from mainland China, whose mission is not to build a city but to maintain stability, obey orders, and execute political tasks.

Even the soundscape of the streets has changed. In the past, walking through Hong Kong meant hearing Cantonese interwoven with English—a rhythm uniquely its own. Now it is drowned out by loudspeakers blaring Mandarin, as if the entire city is being reformatted. Even the air carries a strange, unfamiliar scent.

Civilization never fears time; it fears deliberate destruction.History has shown again and again that once a society falls under the shadow of communism, civilization almost inevitably regresses. Like a corrosive agent, it eats away at the most precious institutions, values, and spirit of a place—turning openness back into closedness, the rule of law back into rule by men, hope back into oppression and fear.

Today’s Hong Kong stands as the clearest—and saddest—testimony to this pattern.The streets are still there, the skyscrapers still stand, the red taxis still drive by. The exterior appears intact, yet the soul that once allowed Hong Kong to stand tall in the world has been hollowed out.

Civilization is not made of buildings, nor of GDP figures.It is made of human dignity, freedom, moral boundaries, and courage—of a society’s willingness to let every individual live in their own way.

The Hong Kong of the past possessed all of this. Today, only its fading echo remains.But a soul never truly dies.It lives scattered within every Hongkonger who still remembers, refuses to forget, and insists on living as a free person.