美籍華裔作家的尋根之旅

美籍華裔作家徐桓是《偷瓷賊：尋找中國土地下深埋的寶藏》（The Porcelain Thief： Searching the Middle Kingdom for Buried China）的作者。該書細細敘述了徐桓的返鄉(xiāng)旅程。他穿越古代和當代的中國，探尋外高祖父長期埋藏的瓷器下落，從而發(fā)現(xiàn)了理解過去百年來家族史的關(guān)鍵。

1938年，日軍抵達長江新港。徐的外高祖父全家世世代代居住在那里。他們只得埋藏寶物，包括大批價值連城的古代瓷器，背井離鄉(xiāng)數(shù)十年，辛苦跋涉數(shù)千里，經(jīng)歷了無數(shù)峰回路轉(zhuǎn)的奇遇。徐在鹽湖城長大，只憑家族的傳說，就前往中國，在叔父的半導體芯片廠工作，開始理解以前不明白的家史。他和外祖母的交流激起了他的興趣。外祖母是最后的紐帶，將他和王朝時代的古老中國聯(lián)系起來。他開始對瓷器本身感興趣，不限于家族的寶藏。他輾轉(zhuǎn)大陸和臺灣，著手甄別圍繞家族與中國的傳說和事實，最終補全了家族萬里還鄉(xiāng)的歷史。

本期《無限播客》，我們來了解徐桓作為ABC返回中國的一些見聞和他尋根之旅的心路歷程。

Arun Rath （Host）： Unless you’ve got Long John Silver in your family tree， you wouldn’t expect researching family history to involve a search for buried treasure. But that’s just part of the wild story Huan Hsu tells in his book “The Porcelain Thief.” Hsu’s great-great-grandfather was a scholar during China’s last 1）Imperial Dynasty. He built up an immense collection of extremely valuable porcelain. But the family was forced to flee in 1938 as the invading Japanese army approached.

Huan Hsu： In order to keep his collection safe， he and one of his workmen dug a giant hole in their garden. And it was described to me as deeper than a man was tall and about the size of a bedroom. And they lined that hole with bamboo shelving. They filled this 2）vault 3）to the brim， and then they put a 1 floor over it and re-planted the garden.

Rath： Huan Hsu knew nothing about this part of his family history when he was growing up. He was an ABC—an American-born Chinese living in Salt Lake City， Utah.

Hsu： I think I was somewhat typical of a child of immigrants in the sense that I was not really interested in being Chinese at all and was much more interested in 4）assimilating. I just thought， like， my parents were from another planet and had come there solely to embarrass me. And…

Rath： I think a lot of the people feel like that.

（Laughter）

Hsu： Yeah， that might not be unique to being Chinese-American. Yeah.

Rath： Well， so how did you get from where you were， which was kind of not wanting to embrace your Chinese heritage to this trip that you describe in this book， where you actually go to China to find out what happened to this buried porcelain collection？

Hsu： Although I wasn’t really interested in my family history， I always liked to dig—literally. Like， I dug lots of holes in my mom’s backyard looking for dinosaur bones or arrowheads or， you know， anything a little kid thinks he’s gonna find. And I think that 5）compulsion manifested itself as a writer and as a journalist wanting to dig for stories.

So while I was working for a newspaper in Seattle， I had to go to the Seattle Art Museum for a story. And when I was there， I stumbled into their porcelain room， and I saw this little red porcelain dish in the shape of a 6）chrysanthemum with gold lettering on it. And the museum couldn’t tell me what that gold lettering said， so I called my dad to help me translate it. And as we were getting off the phone， he said， well， you know， if you’re actually interested in porcelain， you should talk to your mom， because her family had some porcelain.

So I talked to my mom， and she had told me the story of my great-great-grandfather’s buried porcelain. And she knew pretty much just that—that my great-great-grandfather was a porcelain collector and had buried his porcelain and couldn’t answer any questions that I had in terms of how much there was？ How much was it worth？ When was it buried？ Where was it buried？ Had anybody ever gone to look for it？ So she said， well， you know， the person who would know this is your grandmother who grew up at that house. Eventually， my grandmother said to my mom， well， you know， if he really wants to hear the story， he should just come here. So I did.

Rath： And you go to China. And I gotta tell you， I can’t get over how much your experience about being an ABC in China reminded me about my experience of being—I don’t know if you’ve heard this term—ABCD. It’s American-born confused Desi. It’s for like people of South Asian 7）extraction.

Hsu： Oh， no.

Rath： The first thing that deeply messed with my head when I was in India—white 8）expats in India， when they see each other in the street， they kind of nod at each other. They’re like—this acknowledgement. And I was kind of surprised they didn’t do that with me. And then I realized—wait， no， I’m not white. Why would they do that with me？ And you described exactly the same thing in China.

Hsu： （Laughter） So， like， when I think of myself， I don’t think of myself as Chinese， I guess. And so， yeah， when I got to China， I found myself really 9）perturbed that I didn’t get that knowing glance from other expats when I passed them on the street. And I found myself， like， trying to project my American-ness as much as possible when they were like within 10）earshot. Like， I would speak my English much louder than I needed to. Yeah， I would look for like any excuse to be like， hey， hey， I’m American， too.

Rath： And how did Chinese people regard you as an American-born Chinese—as an ABC？

Hsu： The local Chinese love to ask， like， do you feel Chinese or American？ And I guess in America I feel kind of Chinese， and in China I feel really American. I think the younger generation gets it， but the older generation just—they don’t accept it， because they just want you to say， oh， yeah， I have Chinese blood. And I love China. And I’m really happy to be back in the motherland and things like that.

And I had one guy at a dinner just really push me on whether or not I felt Chinese or American. H e j u s t w o u l d n’t accept， you know， my 11）equivocations. And finally he said， OK， let’s say China and America went to war. Which side would you pick up a gun for？ And I was like， ugh， well， in that case， I’d just run to Canada. Like， I just... Rath： （Laughter） So this story is about your quest for buried treasure. You’re trying to find this collection of porcelain that was buried at your family’s 12）ancestral home. I’ll tease people by saying that you do get there， and you do some digging， literally. But clearly， you’re more 13）engrossed in this book by what you unearth about your family—its history and its secrets and how that’s wrapped up in China’s history. So at the end of this， what do you come away learning about yourself？

Hsu： Yeah， I think the whole experience just kind of made me more OK with me. I was always really envious of Americans who could trace their 14）lineage really far back， who could kind of place themselves in a tradition. And so I think going to China and understanding more about where I came from—I mean，this sounds a little cliché—but that kind of gave me a better sense of who I am. And just about everybody’s family history is interesting. And I think they’re really precious things that should be remembered.

Rath： Huan Hsu is the author of “The Porcelain Thief： Searching the Middle Kingdom for Buried China.” Thanks for your time， Huan.

Hsu： Thank you for having me.

阿倫·拉思（主持人）：除非你的族譜里有朗·約翰·西爾弗（譯者注：名著《金銀島》里聲名狼藉的獨腳海盜）這樣的人，否則你不會想到為了搜尋寶藏而去研究家族的歷史。然而那只是徐桓（音譯）在他的書——《偷瓷賊》中所講述的瘋狂故事的一部分。徐的外高祖父是中國最后一個封建王朝時期的一位學者，他收藏了大量極具價值的瓷器。但是隨著侵華日軍的逼近，全家人被迫在1938年離鄉(xiāng)背井。

徐桓：為了保證收藏品的安全，他和他的一名下人在花園里挖了個巨大的洞。他們跟我描述的是，此洞有一人多深，大如臥室。然后他們在洞內(nèi)放置竹架，又將這個巨洞回填滿，鋪上假的地板，重新種上花草。

拉思：徐桓在成長的過程中對于自己家族的這段歷史一無所知。他是在美國出生的華人，居住在猶他州的鹽湖城。

徐：我覺得我是一個典型的第二代移民，我對自己華人的血統(tǒng)一點都不感興趣，想得更多的是如何融入（美國社會）。我只是想，比如，我父母來自另一個星球，他們的到來只是為了讓我感到尷尬。而且……拉思：我想很多人都有那樣的感受。（笑）

徐：沒錯，那可能不僅僅發(fā)生在華裔美國人身上。是的。

拉思：嗯，那你怎么想到去你的根所在的地方？你并非想從這次你書中描述的旅行中得到你的遺產(chǎn)，而確實前往中國找出這批被埋葬的瓷器收藏品的來龍去脈了。

徐：盡管我對我的家族史不那么感興趣，但是毫不夸張地說，我一直喜歡挖掘。比如，我在母親的后院挖了很多洞，尋找恐龍骨或小蘑菇之類的東西，或者，你懂的，任何小孩子覺得能找到的東西。我想那種沖動體現(xiàn)了作為作者和記者想挖掘素材的職業(yè)本能。

所以我在西雅圖一家報社工作的時候，我必須去西雅圖藝術(shù)博物館尋找寫作素材。我在那里的時候，不經(jīng)意間走進瓷器館內(nèi)，看到一個紅色菊花狀小盤子，上面有幾個鎏金的中國字。博物館工作人員無法告訴我鎏金字的意思，于是我打電話給我父親幫我翻譯。但在我們要掛電話的時候，他說：“嗯，你知道，如果你真的對瓷器感興趣，你應該跟你母親聊聊，因為她的娘家有些瓷器。”

于是我跟母親聊，她告訴我有關(guān)外高祖父埋藏瓷器的故事。而她大致知道的就是：我外高祖父是一位瓷器收藏家，曾埋藏過他的瓷器。然而她無法解開我心中的重重疑團：埋藏的瓷器有多少？價值多少？什么時候被埋的？埋在哪里？有人去找過嗎？于是她說：“嗯，你知道，清楚這件事情的人是你外祖母，她就在那座老宅里長大的?！弊罱K，我外祖母告訴我母親：“嗯，你知道，如果他真的想聽這個故事，他應該親自來一趟?！庇谑俏姨ど狭嘶剜l(xiāng)之路。

拉思：所以你去了中國。而我得告訴你，我還沒從你作為華裔美國人在中國的經(jīng)歷回過神來，這喚起了我自己的經(jīng)歷，我不知道你聽過ABCD這個詞沒有，意思是在美國出生的迷茫的印度人，用于稱呼那些南亞裔的人。

徐：哦，沒聽過。

拉思：我在印度的時候深深煩擾到我的第一件事就是：在印度的白種人，他們在街上偶遇的時候會互相點頭打招呼，他們就像是確認身份一樣。而我有點驚訝的是他們沒有這樣對我，于是我意識到——等等，不，我不是白人。他們?yōu)槭裁匆瑯訉ξ遥窟@跟你描述在中國的情形完全一樣。

徐：（笑）所以每當我想到自己，我想我并不認為自己是中國人。所以，沒錯，當我到達中國，我發(fā)現(xiàn)自己很心煩意亂，我跟其他外籍人士在街上擦肩而過的時候，我沒有得到他們會意的眼神。所以當他們在近處聽得到的地方，我就盡可能地突出我的美國特點。比如，我會比實際需要更大聲地說英語。沒錯，我會找個借口去表明：“嘿，嘿，我也是美國人?！?/p>

拉思：作為美國出生的華人，中國人是怎么看你的？

徐：當?shù)刂袊讼矚g問這樣的問題：“你覺得自己是中國人還是美國人？”而我會這樣回答，“我想在美國，我覺得自己是中國人；在中國，我感覺自己真的很美國化。”年輕人會明白其中含義，不過老一輩的人就是不接受，因為他們希望你說，“哦，是的，我身上流淌著炎黃子孫的血，我愛中國，真的很高興能投入祖國的懷抱，”諸如此類的東西。

有次吃飯，關(guān)于我感覺自己是中國人還是美國人這個話題，有個人真的給我添了麻煩。他就是不接受我模棱兩可的回答。最后他說：“好吧，假如中國和美國開戰(zhàn)，哪一邊是你想扛槍保衛(wèi)的？”我說：“啊，這種情況，我會逃到加拿大。比如，我只是……”

拉思：（笑）所以這個故事是關(guān)于你對埋藏的寶藏的尋覓之旅，你在努力尋找埋藏在你家族老宅的瓷器。我會揶揄人們說，你確實到了那里，毫不夸張地說，你還挖地了。但是很明顯，你在書中更專注地挖掘你家族的歷史和秘密，以及它與中國歷史的關(guān)系。最后，你離開時對自己有些什么認識嗎？

徐：沒錯，我想整個經(jīng)歷在某種程度上讓我與自己更為和解。我曾經(jīng)總是非常羨慕那些本土美國人，因為他們能遠遠追溯自己的血統(tǒng)，有自己的家族傳統(tǒng)。所以我想這趟回鄉(xiāng)之旅讓我更清楚“我來自哪里”，我是說，這聽起來有點陳詞濫調(diào)，但確實讓我更了解自己的身份。其實，每個人的家族歷史都是有趣的，我想它是十分寶貴的財富，應該被銘記。

拉思：徐桓是《偷瓷賊：尋找中國土地下深埋的寶藏》的作者。謝謝你寶貴的時間，桓。

徐：謝謝你們邀請我。

小鏈接

ABC的常用縮寫

ABC是26個英文字母的前三個，用來指一般常識或淺顯的道理，有時也用作書名，通常也指一件事情的開始。

America-born Chinese 美籍華裔，尤指父母都是華人但在美國出生不會講中文或中文很差的美籍華裔

Agricultural Bank of China中國農(nóng)業(yè)銀行

America Broadcast Company美國廣播公司

Australian Broadcasting Corporation 澳大利亞廣播公司

ABC分別代表三個服裝大牌Armani、BURBERRY和Christian Louboutin

ABC百科全書（the ABCs）為英語世界中最負盛名的三部百科全書的集合俗稱，即《大美百科全書》（Encyclopedia Americana）、《大英百科全書》（Encyclopedia Britannica）及《科里爾百科全書》（Collier’s Encyclopedia）