The Real China Emerges from Clichés and 　　編者按：隨著北京2008年奧運會的臨近，民眾越來越關(guān)心“中國”品牌的樹立，學(xué)習(xí)英語的熱情也被點燃。越來越多的外宣干部和業(yè)內(nèi)同行向我們表達了期待看到雙語欄目的愿望。因此，我們自2006年第1期起開辦了《雙語視窗》欄目以滿足廣大讀者的需求。
　　看看周圍的媒體，在《北京青年報》、《參考消息》、《國門時報》上有許多精粹的短文，像一只只啄木鳥，善意地提醒了中國人習(xí)以為常的行為背后“尚未和國際接軌”的細節(jié)，讀后讓人回味不已。在獲得借鑒意義的同時，也帶來更深入的思考。我們效仿中英文對照的版面形式，旨在通過外國友人的視角來看中國，從中折射出東西方觀念、習(xí)俗的異同。通過一篇篇這樣的文章，讓讀者在領(lǐng)略異域文化的同時，也能達到學(xué)習(xí)英語的目的。
　　我是冷戰(zhàn)思維的產(chǎn)物。20世紀50年代，大人教給我的，是對中國的恐懼。值得慶幸的是，自冷戰(zhàn)時代至今世界已有了巨大的變化。
　　去年八月我來到中國教授美國憲法，當(dāng)時我并不知道自己期待的是什么，我之所以來中國，是因為好奇，是因為中國非常有意思，也因為中國非常重要。臨行前，當(dāng)人們問我為什么來中國，我只是說：“因為那里是中國�！�
　　富布賴特交流項目給了我來到中國的極好機會，正如它給予了中國人及其他國家的人去美國的機會一樣。雖說你是去教書、搞研究，或是深造，但我認為真正的目的是加強雙方的理解。我回國后會告訴美國人我所見到的真正的中國，下面就是我要對他們說的一些內(nèi)容。
　　在中國，我沒有見到兒童時代被告之的“令人害怕的紅色中國”，也沒有見到某些西方人預(yù)言的“作為人類本性必然結(jié)果的資本主義中國”，我見到的是實實在在的中國人。
　　我看到了數(shù)千名工人在建筑工地辛苦地工作，他們中的大多數(shù)來自農(nóng)村。北京就在我的眼前變化著。在餐館里，我看到來自各個階層的人們聊著，喝著，笑著，有時他們的交談是那么專注，似乎忘記了眼前豐盛美味的食物。
　　我看見人們熱衷于這類日常事情：晨練、晚舞，都是在大街上；我看見人們以堅定不移的信念以至幽默感與生活中大大小小的困難作斗爭；人們騎自行車上班，無論是嚴寒還是酷暑；交通堵塞時人們耐心等待，眼瞅著有人用胳膊肘往隊前擠。
　　我絕不會忘記中國婦女(有時是男人)輕松自如地側(cè)坐在自行車后架上，非常在行地掌握著平衡，不受旁邊馳過的汽車的影響；還有中國男人(有時是女人)一蹲幾個小時打撲克(或打麻將)。然而我也絕不會忘記，就在離我10英尺的地方，我看見一個女人被捕了。
　　是中國百姓讓我越來越喜歡中國。我最了解的中國人是我的學(xué)生。他們努力營造著自己的生活，力圖理解這個飛快變化的世界。他們對我感到好奇，對我的思想感到好奇。在我的教書生涯中，我從未感到過自己如此有價值。
　　我欣賞我的學(xué)生的求知渴望，以及他們勇敢地面對困難。這些研究生，多數(shù)會成為律師和公證人，他們5個人住一間宿舍，沒有學(xué)習(xí)的空間，而且他們所學(xué)的是難度很大的課程――美國憲法，還是英文的，對他們來說這是用外語學(xué)習(xí)外國的思想。我試著把語速變慢(但這對于一個紐約人來說并不容易做到)，而學(xué)生們則學(xué)著能聽得更快。隨著時間的推移，我們之間的紐帶不斷加強。
　　去年感恩節(jié)的晚上，我獨自一人坐在公寓里，力圖在這個總是與家人共度的美國節(jié)日中不感覺孤獨。電話鈴響了。我的學(xué)生們邀我出了門。當(dāng)然，沒有火雞，但是有好朋友，有北京烤鴨，比火雞更好吃，接著就是用白酒干杯。在北京過感恩節(jié)，這在過去對我來說真是不可思議的一件事。
　　人們常常說，似乎充分的交流就能解決一切問題，好像觀點、想法或利益上的區(qū)別就都不存在了，然而很多中國人與美國人之間在諸如人權(quán)，美國導(dǎo)彈防御系統(tǒng)，美國的“干涉”，宗教自由等問題上都存在著爭議，不可能指望這些都化為烏有。
　　然而，相互的友誼與尊重，會帶來實實在在的回報，這將培養(yǎng)起人與人之間的紐帶，這種紐帶不會輕易被某些觀點或國際的復(fù)雜性，乃至歷史上的傷害與猜忌所化解。當(dāng)雙方的尊重及喜愛程度得到加強，新事物(雖然并非一切事情)的出現(xiàn)就是可能的。
　　更充分的理解并不意味著就沒有沖突，但這可以將沖突化小一點。你知道了去聽對方怎樣說，去體會對方怎樣想，反思你自認為是千真萬確的事。
　　尊重與理解消融了想妖魔化對方，認為對方的國家和人民是萬惡之源的欲望。如今當(dāng)你有這種欲望時，一些實實在在的面孔就出現(xiàn)在眼前，他們是你的同事，他們是你的朋友，他們是你的學(xué)生，他們對你是那么的友好，他們當(dāng)中沒有敵人的面孔。
　　他們過去是，現(xiàn)在也是實實在在的人，也許他們與你不一樣，但共性卻比你想象的要多得多。如果說有什么不同，這種不同也是非常有意思，甚至非常吸引人的。
　　
　　本文作者為紐約Fordham大學(xué)教授，作為富布賴特訪問學(xué)者，曾在中國政法大學(xué)任教。
　　
　　I am a child of the Cold War. During the 1950s, I was taught to fear China. Fortunately, much has changed since then.
　　When I came to China in August 1999 to teach American constitutional law, I didn’t know what to expect. I came because I was curious, because China is so interesting and because China is so important. Before I left, when people in America would ask me why I was going, I would answer simply: “Because it’s China.”
　　The U.S.Fulbright Program gave me an excellent opportunity to come to China, just as it gives Chinese (and other nationals) the opportunity to go to America. Although you go to teach, research or study, the real purpose, I think, is to enhance mutual understanding. When I return home I will tell other Americans about the “real China” I saw. Here is some of what I will say.
　　Rather than seeing the “Red China” I learned to fear as a child, or the “capitalist China” some in the West now predict as the inevitable outcome of human nature, I saw real people.
　　I saw thousands of workers, many of whom were brought in from the countryside, working long and hard at construction. Beijing changed before my eyes. I saw people in restaurants from all walks of life, talking, drinking and laughing. Sometimes they were so engrossed in conversation they seemed to forget the delicious (and abundant) food before them.
　　I saw people heartily enjoying such little things: morning exercises and evening dances, all in the street. I saw people struggling against life’s difficulties, big and small, with perseverance and even good humor. People rode their bicycle to work, in the freezing cold and the blistering heat. Other people patiently sit in traffic. Still others allow some people to nudge ahead of them in line.
　　I will never forget the ease with which Chinese women (and sometimes men) perch themselves side-saddle on the back rack of bicycles, expert in their balance, impervious to cars racing by. Or how Chinese men (and sometimes women) simply squat on their heels and play cards or mahjong for hours.
　　I cannot forget, however, that I also saw a woman get arrested, ten feet from me. I think I know why.
　　The reason I have grown to like China so much is the people. And the people I have come to know the best are my students: students simply trying to make a life for themselves, trying to understand their rapidly changing world, curious about me, and about my ideas. I have never felt more appreciated anywhere I have taught.
　　I admire my students for their desire to learn and the difficulties they brave. Graduate students all, mostly lawyers or notaries, they were housed five to a small dorm room with no space to study. And they were studying a difficult subject, U.S. constitutional law, in English-to them foreign ideas in a foreign language. I learned to speak more slowly (not easy for a New Yorker) and then to listen more quickly. Over time the bonds between us grew.
　　Thanksgiving evening last year I was sitting alone in my apartment, trying not to feel lonely on my national holiday, usually spent with family. The telephone rang. My students swept me out of my house. No turkey, of course, but good friends, and Peking duck, a much tastier bird. Then, “ganbei”with baijiu. Thanksgiving in Beijing, an event unimaginable most of my life.
　　Too often people speak as if good communication can solve all problems, as if real differences of viewpoint, opinion or interests do not exist. There are real disagreements, however, between many Chinese and Americans on issues from human rights, to missile defense systems, to Chinese claims of American “interference”, to ideas about religious freedom.
　　Friendship and mutual respect, however, do bring real rewards. They foster a human bond that cannot easily be dissolved by differences in viewpoint, or the complexity of international affairs or even the hurts and suspicions of history. When mutual respect and liking develop, new things?although not all things?are possible. Better understanding does not render confrontation impossible, but it makes it a little less likely. You learn to hear what others say, feel what they feel, think again about what you were sure you knew.
　　Respect and understandings often the urge to demonize, to insist that another people or nation is the source of all that’s wrong or evil. Now when you have this urge, real faces appear before you. He was your colleague, she was your friend, they were your students and they treated you so well. These are not the faces of the enemy.
　　They were-they are-real people, maybe not just like you, but much more like you than you ever imagined. And when they are different from you, often it is in very interesting, even intriguing ways.省略）
　　責(zé)編：周 瑾

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