——读牛腾宇母亲写给狱中儿子的生日信
作者：张晓丽
编辑：胡丽莉 校对：熊辩 翻译：戈冰
3月12日，是牛腾宇的生日。
在一个正常的家庭里，生日本该意味着团聚、祝福和笑声。然而在中国的现实中，这一天却成了一个母亲独自写信的日子。她的儿子无法回家，无法与家人团聚，只能在铁窗之内度过自己的生日。
这封信，来自牛腾宇的母亲。
牛腾宇，1990年代出生，是“恶俗维基案”的主要当事人之一。2019年前后，中国警方对与该网站有关的人员展开大规模抓捕。2020年12月30日，广东茂名法院对案件作出判决，其中牛腾宇被认定为“主犯”，被判处14年有期徒刑。
这一案件之所以引发外界持续关注，与该网站曾被指涉及中国最高领导人习近平家人的信息有关。据一些公开报道和网络讨论称，相关资料中包括习近平之女 Xi Mingze 以及其亲属 Deng Jiagui 等人的信息被疑似在互联网上传播。许多观察者认为，这也使得案件在政治上变得格外敏感。
这一案件自宣判以来便引发了持续的争议。家属与部分关注者认为案件在调查与审理过程中存在诸多问题，因此多年来不断通过网络发声、申诉，希望能够引起更多社会关注。
在这样的背景之下，今年3月12日，牛腾宇的母亲再次写下了一封给儿子的生日信。信中，她回忆起儿子小时候的生日。那时的他还是一个在家中活蹦乱跳的孩子，每一年生日都充满欢笑。孩子清脆的笑声，是这个家庭最温暖的记忆。她曾经以为，这样的幸福会一直延续下去。
然而命运却突然改变了一切。如今，她的儿子被关在冰冷的牢房里。信中写道，每当想到儿子在狭小阴暗的牢房里忍受孤独和痛苦，她的心就像被针扎一样。那些原本再普通不过的家庭团聚，如今却成了遥不可及的梦想。
这封信之所以让人动容，不仅因为它是一位母亲对儿子的思念，更因为它让人看到，在一个具体案件的背后，是一个被撕裂的家庭。
很多时候，一个案件真正留下的伤口，并不仅仅在判决书上，而是在一个家庭漫长的等待之中。当权力缺乏监督、司法缺乏透明时，普通人的命运往往显得格外脆弱。一个年轻人的命运可能被轻易改变，而一个家庭则要用许多年去承受这种改变带来的后果。
长期以来，中共体制下的司法体系始终缺乏真正独立的审判环境。法院、检察机关以及公安系统在政治权力之下运行，使得法律往往不再是保护公民权利的工具，而成为维护权力秩序的手段。当案件涉及政治敏感因素或权力核心人物时，所谓的法律程序往往难以摆脱政治意志的影响。
在这样的体制之下，普通公民几乎没有真正有效的救济渠道。上诉、申诉往往陷入漫长而无望的程序之中，而家属为亲人奔走呼喊的声音，也常常被忽视甚至压制。一个政权如果不能容忍质疑，不能接受监督，那么司法就很难真正代表公义。
也正因为如此，牛腾宇母亲的坚持显得格外沉重而珍贵。她不是政治人物，也不是公共人物，她只是一个普通的中国母亲。然而在面对庞大的权力机器时，她依然选择发声、选择记录、选择让外界看到这个案件背后的真实痛苦。
在许多类似案件中，承受痛苦的往往不只是当事人本人。当一个年轻人被长期关押，一个家庭也被拖入漫长的煎熬。父母、亲人、朋友都不得不在不确定与焦虑中度过每一天。一个案件的背后，常常是无数个难以入眠的夜晚。
也许，这封生日信并不会被很多人看到，也不会引起多么巨大的关注。但今天，当我读到这封信时，我的心被深深触动了。
因为我也是一名母亲。
当我读到她回忆儿子小时候生日的那一段时，我仿佛看见每一个普通家庭的影子。孩子在长大，母亲在守望，家庭在平凡的日子里积累着温暖。可是当这样的生活突然被打断，一个母亲要承受的痛苦，是任何语言都难以表达的。
也许我只是众多读者中的一个普通人，也许我无法改变什么。但当我读到这封信时，我仍然希望把它写下来，让更多人知道，在铁窗之外，有一位母亲仍在等待。
她等待的不只是儿子的归来，更是一个关于公义与真相的答案。
A Mother Beyond Prison Bars
—Reflections on the Birthday Letter Written by Niu Tengyu’s Mother to Her Son in Prison
Author: Zhang Xiaoli
Editor: Hu Lili Proofreader: Xiong Bian Translator: Ge Bing
Abstract: Niu Tengyu was sentenced to 14 years in prison for the “Vulgar Wiki Case.” On her son’s birthday, his mother wrote a letter expressing her longing and anguish. The letter reflects the controversy surrounding the case and the family’s trauma, while also drawing attention to issues of judicial independence and transparency in China.
March 12 is Niu Tengyu’s birthday.
In a normal family, a birthday should mean reunion, blessings, and laughter. Yet in the reality of China, this day has become one where a mother writes a letter alone. Her son cannot return home, cannot reunite with his family, and can only spend his birthday behind bars.
This letter comes from Niu Tengyu’s mother.
Niu Tengyu, born in the 1990s, is one of the main defendants in the “Esu Wiki Case.” Around 2019, Chinese police launched a large-scale crackdown on individuals associated with the website. On December 30, 2020, the Maoming Court in Guangdong issued its verdict, in which Niu Tengyu was identified as a “principal offender” and sentenced to 14 years in prison.
The reason this case has attracted sustained public attention is linked to allegations that the website contained information regarding the family of China’s top leader, Xi Jinping. According to some public reports and online discussions, the materials allegedly included information about Xi Jinping’s daughter, Xi Mingze, and her relative, Deng Jiagui, which was suspected to have been circulated on the internet. Many observers believe this has made the case particularly politically sensitive.
Since the verdict was handed down, the case has sparked ongoing controversy. The family and some supporters believe there were numerous issues during the investigation and trial process, and for years they have continuously voiced their concerns and filed appeals online in the hope of drawing greater public attention.
Against this backdrop, on March 12 of this year, Niu Tengyu’s mother once again wrote a birthday letter to her son. In the letter, she recalled her son’s childhood birthdays. Back then, he was a lively child who would run and play at home, and every birthday was filled with laughter. Her son’s clear, ringing laughter remains the family’s warmest memory. She had once believed that such happiness would last forever.
Yet fate suddenly changed everything. Now, her son is confined to a cold prison cell. The letter states that whenever she thinks of her son enduring loneliness and suffering in that cramped, dim cell, her heart feels as if it were being pierced by needles. Those once ordinary family reunions have now become a distant dream.
What makes this letter so moving is not only a mother’s longing for her son, but also the fact that it reveals a torn family behind a specific case.
Often, the true wounds left by a case are not merely found in the verdict, but in a family’s long wait. When power lacks oversight and the judiciary lacks transparency, the fate of ordinary people often appears particularly fragile. A young person’s destiny may be easily altered, while a family must spend many years bearing the consequences of that change.
For a long time, the judicial system under the Chinese Communist Party regime has consistently lacked a truly independent environment for trials. Courts, procuratorates, and the public security system operate under political authority, causing the law to often cease being a tool for protecting citizens’ rights and instead become a means of maintaining the order of power. When cases involve politically sensitive factors or key figures in the power structure, so-called legal procedures often struggle to escape the influence of political will.
Under such a system, ordinary citizens have virtually no truly effective avenues for redress. Appeals and petitions often get bogged down in lengthy and hopeless procedures, while the cries of family members pleading for their loved ones are frequently ignored or even suppressed. If a regime cannot tolerate questioning or accept oversight, then the judiciary can hardly truly represent justice.
It is precisely for this reason that Niu Tengyu’s mother’s persistence feels all the more profound and precious. She is neither a political figure nor a public figure; she is simply an ordinary Chinese mother. Yet, in the face of a massive machinery of power, she has chosen to speak out, to document, and to reveal to the outside world the true suffering behind this case.
In many similar cases, the suffering is often borne not only by the individual involved. When a young person is detained for an extended period, an entire family is dragged into a prolonged ordeal. Parents, relatives, and friends are forced to spend every day in uncertainty and anxiety. Behind every case, there are often countless sleepless nights.
Perhaps this birthday letter will not be seen by many, nor will it attract much attention. But today, as I read this letter, my heart was deeply moved.
Because I am a mother too.
When I read the passage where she recalled her son’s childhood birthdays, I felt as though I were seeing the reflection of every ordinary family. Children grow up, mothers watch over them, and families accumulate warmth in their everyday lives. But when such a life is suddenly cut short, the pain a mother must endure is beyond words.
Perhaps I am just an ordinary person among countless readers, and perhaps I cannot change anything. But when I read this letter, I still felt compelled to write it down, so that more people would know: beyond those prison bars, a mother is still waiting.
She is waiting not only for her son’s return, but also for an answer regarding justice and the truth.
