‘In the process of growing up, all excess-birth children have faced unendurable disappointments. These have torn us apart and inflicted wounds that will never heal, and which still cause us pain…

Sunshine Lü, Wei Wanjun and me, as well as millions of others who were born as excess-birth children and lived their lives hidden away, we were all sungrass blooming brilliantly in the darkness…

We have walked out of the shadows, toward the light.’

—Shen Yang, More Than One Child, Memoirs of an Illegal Daughter

 

 

‘But always – do not forget this, Winston – always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler.

Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless.

If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – for ever.’

—George Orwell, 1984