Da Jilu/zh-en/Band 5
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| book = Da Jilu |title = 大记录 Band 5 (中文) |prev = Da_Jilu/zh/Band_4 |next = }} |
“Without residence you're no longer a person?” The two women continued to argue. |
| = 大记录 — 卷五 = 卷五 — 2011 Chinas diplomatische Aktion, Der Drache erforscht das Meer, u.a. |
One wave wasn't over when the next arose. Zou Wanggen got into an argument with his brother-in-law Zhang Jianmei, Zhang Linjun's father. When Zou Wanggen wanted to pick up the power of attorney for his son working away from home, Zhang Jianmei, who was responsible for this, admonished him: “You take the power of attorney with you, the day after tomorrow you have to return it to me.” Zou Wanggen said defiantly: “The day after tomorrow I have no time.” Zhang Jianmei also became irritated: “If you have no time, that's your problem.” |
| ---- | When it came to voting, Zou Wanggen brought a power of attorney without the signature and fingerprint of the authorizing person and wanted to pick up a ballot. Since it didn't meet the requirements of the Recall Committee, Zhang Jianmei refused to issue the ballot, and the two got into an argument. |
| 国 家 | When Zhang Jianmei saw that Zou Wanggen's girlfriend was meddling from the side, he said angrily: “What are you anyway?” She came from another village and wasn't yet married to Zou Wanggen but constantly meddled in village affairs. Zou Wanggen became angry, stormed forward and wanted to hit Zhang Jianmei, but was held back by the people. |
| ——2011 •中国外交空前行动 | Zhang Linjun said to his uncle: “The power of attorney you have doesn't meet the requirements, of course you can't be given a ballot. Let's do it this way: There's still time, call your son, have him come back by taxi and vote, I'll cover the few hundred yuan taxi costs.” |
| 何建明 | The uncle had nothing more to say. He admonished his father: “Today is voting day, we shouldn't behave like him. If we get some insults, that doesn't matter. If it comes to a fight and the matter goes wrong, we do wrong to all villagers. We must stay calm, absolutely stay calm.” |
| 如果离开了自己的国家,你还会有什么? | Zhang Jianmei looked silently at his son. He hadn't thought that Linjun had become more mature and level-headed after this matter. |
| 如果没有了自己的人民,国能是什么样? | Here it had just calmed down when another argument started there. The six brothers of Zou Fugen had returned, but their wives and children hadn't come back and they had no powers of attorney. The staff refused to issue the ballots for their wives and children. |
| 题记 | “I came back, I absolutely must get the ballots for my wife and children!” They argued. |
| 在中国,除了天安门、人民大会堂和新华门外,有一个地方,迎风飘扬的五星红 旗和高高悬挂着的国徽,让人感到既庄严肃穆又崇高神圣,它就是中华人民共和国 外交部。 | “We must go the lawful route. The leadership of the Bureau of Civil Affairs is over there, if you have objections, speak with the leadership.” Liao Xianghai tried to mediate. |
| 外交部大楼从正面看,那巨型的扇面式建筑,像是ー架手风琴,布在“风箱”上 的ー个个闪着光芒的窗口,密集有序,充满神秘。在这座大楼里,每天都弹奏着ー 个国家和整个世界之间交往的外交乐章,时而紧张激越,时而惊心动魄,时而柳暗 花明,时而又像潺潺流水般和缓动听。 | Deng Shiming sat with his 6-year-old daughter in his arms on the stone arched bridge, surrounded by five or six of his supporters. Teacher Deng stood lonely by the roadside and asked the passing villagers with a bitter smile: “Your votes, vote for our Shiming, let him finish his term. We would be very grateful, your children still go to school with me.” The brotherly loyalty was truly touching, but who would still cast this vote out of gratitude? |
| 现在,我走进这座大楼,走近我们的外交官们,静静地倾听他们的讲述……于 是一件震惊世界外交界、让无数国家的外交同行和政要们高竖拇指的大事内幕,徐 徐在我面前展开。这件值得铭刻石碑的大事,只属于中国,只属于正在崛起的、以 人民福祉和人民生命为至上的我们的国家一 | After this recall, the villagers' democratic consciousness had grown strongly, they had understood the weight of the ballots. |
| 2011年2月21日,ー个国家决定的产生 | The vote ended in hope and disappointment, excitement and unrest. The public counting began. The red ballot box became the focus of the villagers' attention. The ballots were poured out, Liao Xianghai announced the votes, and the counters noted them with chalk on the wooden wall. In front of the wooden wall people stood densely packed in several rows. The villagers who couldn't see anything simply stood on tables, chairs, and benches. |
| 黄屏,外交部领事司司长。在这座扇面式大楼里,他是上百位司局级干部中的 普通一员。这ー天清晨,他是从办公室那张临时搭起的行军床上起来的。他和副 手、领事司副司长兼外交部领事保护中心主任郭少春等人已经两天没有回家了,这 仅仅是大战开始的前夜。 | “For the recall, for the recall...” Liao Xianghai announced. |
| 利比亚的形势每天都在恶化,其发展速度根本无法预料。从2月19日开始, 我驻该国大使馆向国内发来的电文一封比一封加急: | “Read louder, only when you can hear it is it fun,” the villagers from the back called. |
| “利比亚政府已经失去对多个地区的控制,局势发展对我在利工作的数万名建 | “For the recall, for the recall...” Liao Xianghai raised his voice. Each announcement triggered cheers. |
| 筑人员和公民形成万分危急之势…… | “Against the recall.” Only with the ninth ballot did Liao Xianghai announce one against the recall. |
| “20日晚起,这里已陷入全面动乱状态…… | The 31-year-old villager Zhang Xiaobao came late, couldn't push his way forward and therefore stood on a stool to observe the counting. “Old Deng is finished, this recall will certainly succeed!” he said quietly to his companion. He had left his foreign trade business in Yiwu and returned especially to participate in the vote. |
| “形势已万分危急,我在利建筑工地多处遭遇袭击和破坏。有的公司财物被抢 劫ー空,并有数百上千人被暴徒残忍地赶到荒无人烟的沙漠之中……” | A full 20 minutes passed. The votes noted on the wooden wall against the recall were sparse, while those for the recall were already densely lined up in 5-stroke combinations. At this moment, Deng Shiming, who sat on the stone bridge, had probably foreseen the final result and said sullenly: “At least I was village head once. Damn it, in the future I wouldn't even want to be emperor!” |
| “我们是领事司,维护海外中国公民的生命和财产安全义不容辞。现在几万名 在利同胞身处险境,我们必须时刻坚守岗位,全力以赴投入战斗!”黄屏斩钉截铁 地说。 | His supporters laughed, some agreed with him: “Yes, yes, what's good about that!” |
| 对黄屏和领事司的同事们来说,现在他们面临的这场战斗绝对是超级大战:要 从远在万里之外的非洲战乱之地,将几万名随时处在生死危急之中的同胞接回 来 | Deng Shiming smiled and let his daughter romp in his arms. The family joys consoled the wound in his heart, his long-oppressed heart felt much better. What in this world is more important than family bonds? When he thought about it carefully, his life had been worth it, he had such good brothers who went through fire for him without hesitating. |
| “怎么接? | Around 4:45 PM the voting result was available: Of a total of 339 eligible voters, 302 participated in the recall vote; 280 ballots were returned; 265 votes for the recall, 14 votes against the recall, 1 abstention. The votes for the recall made up 78.2% of the entire electorate. |
| “什么时候才能接完? | Zhang Shida, Mayor of Dayang Township and leader of the leadership group of the Recall Committee for Qintan Village sent by the township, announced: The recall of Village Head Deng Shiming is adopted. |
| “要动员多少人力物力? | What surprised everyone: When the recall result was announced, the various predicted situations didn't occur. The small hall remained quiet as a still pond, everyone seemed to have already expected this result. Only some villagers went to the wooden wall and photographed with their mobile phones the wall covered with 5-stroke combinations. They said: “We're keeping this as a memory. We can elect village cadres and also recall them, that's true self-government. We're doing this for the first time, inwardly we're very agitated.” |
| “拖上十天八天,要是死了几百几千人咋办?” | Deng Shiming, who sat on the bridge, watched as the villagers came out of the village hall one by one. Nobody came to him to greet him. He turned his head and saw his 73-year-old mother standing behind him. He knew that the old woman cared even more about the result of this recall vote. The cold wind moved her white hair, disappointment made her face look even older. Deng Shiming felt a stab in his heart, moisture moved in his eye sockets, he turned his head away. |
| 黄屏ー说起当时十万火急、迫在眉睫的危急形势,语速快得就像连珠炮,脸涨 得通红,情绪格外激动。 | With the recall officially concluded, its consequences soon followed. After that, cadres from the township and village came several times to Deng Shiming's house and demanded he hand over the village committee seal. With the justification that his work expenses hadn't been settled, he refused to hand over the seal. |
| 必须把同胞接回来!接到咱祖国的土地上!必须让他们平平安安地回到自己 的家！ | The Longtan Stream flowed beneath their feet, it irrigated as always grass and trees on both banks. |
| 这是黄屏和领事司同志们共同的心愿,也是他们掷地有声的誓言。 | Epilogue: Qintan Village Elects a New Village Head |
| “2004年6月,中铁十四局到阿富汗参加援建工作的11名工人被武装分子袭 击遇难,是我去机场接的。当看到排得整整齐齐的11 口棺材时,我的心痛啊！你 想想看,11 口棺材哪,那都是我们自己的同胞。接机的遇难者亲属也在现场,他们 个个哭得死去活来……这一幕我永远忘不掉。”泪光在铁骨铮铮的黄屏的眼眶里 闪动。 | On the afternoon of April 1, 2010, Qintan Village again convened a village assembly and conducted a by-election for village head. Zhang Ronghai was elected village head with a large majority of 279 votes. |
| “这一回是几万同胞啊！他们身处水深火热的险境,利比亚炮火连绵,枪声四 起,流血冲突和暴力事件每分每秒都在发生。一旦他们被交火双方当成人质,出现 成百上千的伤亡,那可是天大的悲剧啊……”黄屏的嘴唇在颤抖,尽管事情已经过 去了一年多,他依然激动不已。 | When he learned of his election as village head, his heart was very calm. During the recall of Deng Shiming, many people discussed who should become the master of Qintan Village, but at first they didn't speak of him. After the process of recalling Deng Shiming, this responsibility finally fell on his shoulders after all. He recognized deeply: The citizens can elect you, they can also recall you, this was also a warning for him. |
| “所以,我们外交部、我们领事司的任务,就是要想尽一切办法,及早把我们的 同胞安全地接回来!”黄屏重重地补了一句,“ー个也不能少地全部接回来!” | In the spring of 2011, Liao Xianghai gave up his business with an annual income of several hundred thousand yuan and returned to this poor mountain village to become Party Secretary. |
| 黄屏深吸了一 ロ气:昨天杨洁簷外长主持召开紧急会议的情景还历历 | The little-known Qintan Village had plucked at the strings of democratic politics and played a song about the recall of village cadres, and became famous with one blow. The news that the villagers of Qintan had successfully initiated the procedure for recalling the village head with 183 red fingerprints and finally led to the recall of the village head was published in dozens of newspapers throughout the country and on over 3,500 websites and attracted great attention. |
| 亚非司司长陈晓东汇报利比亚形势:“目前的判断,从利比亚的内部看,卡扎菲 高压统治已经42年了,政治上四面树敌,经济建树也不多;从外部看,西亚北非政 局动荡来势凶猛,虽然卡扎菲本人试图讨好西方,但仍被视为异类,必欲除之。利 比亚形势将继续恶化,很可能变成全面内战。” | The villagers said Deng Shiming was no corrupt official, had made no major mistake and hadn't oppressed citizens. So why did he absolutely have to be recalled? Quite simple: He was unsuitable! Because Deng Shiming didn't respect the will of the majority! When Deng Shiming was elected back then with a high vote count, this proved he had a good mass base. But in less than two years he was recalled with a high vote count—why was there such a big difference? The result revealed a simple truth: those who govern must ultimately answer to the will of the people. |
| “我同意晓东的看法,”国际司司长陈旭说,“从我常驻联合国代表团那边报来 的情况看,西方国家正在酝酿出台有关利比亚的提案,意在整垮卡扎菲。” | Xu Xiaoen, Director of the Jinhua Branch of the Zhejiang Daily, said: The recall action of the Qintan villagers shows that the democratic political consciousness of rural villagers has been strengthened; the success of the recall shows the progress of our rural development and democratic politics, which through laws, regulations and other systems protects the rights of the popular masses to self-government. This matter has warning character for some who today run for election through dishonest means! |
| “那么,如果局势恶化,我们人员撤离会不会受到冲突双方的阻碍呢?”外交部 党委书记张志军提出ー个关键性的问题。 | A media worker said: If at the beginning of Reform and Opening Up the farmers of Xiaogang Village led the economic reform in the countryside with bloody fingerprints, the villagers of Qintan today express in the same way with red fingerprints their demand for political democracy. One concerns the economy, the other politics, both have milestone significance! Reports about the recall of village cadres or even higher officials appear occasionally, but that this happens in Qintan Village in Jinhua shows the deepening of reform. |
| “肯定有困难,但总体上应该不会遇到阻拦,因为中利双边关系还算正常,反对 派方面要争取国际承认,也很看重我安理会常任理事国的大国地位,不大可能得罪 我们。目前我们在卡扎菲和反对派两边都有关系,只要工作到位,政治层面应该有 保障。”外交部副部长翟隽说。 | Chen Luyi, Party Secretary of Wucheng District, said: “The villagers of Qintan have defended their democratic rights and collective interests with the law and completed this recall, which has milestone significance for rural democratic politics. Water can carry boats but also overturn them. While the legal and democratic consciousness of farmers continues to increase, they will use their rights well and elect their masters well. Officials who don't respect public opinion and don't work for the citizens will be rejected by the people. Public opinion is heaven.” |
| 杨洁簷外长一直沉默着听大家的意见。张志军书记看看他说:“看来,我们要 把工作往前赶,也要做最坏的打算。” | After the storm of recalling the village head, calm returned to Qintan Village. The water of the Longtan Stream flowed tirelessly past the village entrance. On both banks the bamboos that had survived the winter were still green, new bamboo shoots protruded and gave off quiet cracking sounds, as if bringing forth new life. A new spring had come! |
| “看来要撤人了。”杨外长终于说话了,只听他用低沉的语气道,“人是第一位 的,人命关天,首先要考虑的还是我们自己的人要安全。现在最要紧的事是:政策 司、亚非司把情况搞清楚;欧洲司、非洲司先准备起来,关键时刻要能找得到人、说 得上话、办得成事。把这么多人撤出来需要时间,要尽可能争取时间。” | (First published in Beijing Literature, Issue 4, 2011) |
| 杨外长抬头环视了一下在座的副部长和司局长们,指着财务司司长胡建中说: “兵马未动,粮草先行,先和财政部的同志沟通好,可能需要特事特办。” | Difficult Homecoming |
| “明白。”胡建中重重点头。 | Guo Dong |
| 杨外长随即宣布:“现在部里需要成立处理我在利公民安全事宜的应急领导小 组,请志军书记挂帅,宋涛、翟隽为副组长,黄屏、陈晓东和各部门一把手为小组 成员。” | My uncle was a captain in the Taiwan Marine Corps and a veteran from Henan. His life containeds more hardship than happiness. Like so many Chinese who wandered far from home, he saw “going home” as his unquestionable pursuit and destination in life, yet this “falling leaf” could never “return to its roots.” |
| “好,大家按照杨部长的布置行动吧!”张志军书记说。 | Uncle has passed away. Veterans who shared his fate have already arrived in heaven or will soon join him. Swept up by political forces, these people were long abandoned by the societies they came from, which made them even more desperate than other overseas Chinese to be accepted again by the world they had left behind. |
| “听着,从现在起,我们这里的所有人,除了上厕所,一刻也不能离开岗位了!” 按照惯例和业务职责,领事司和所属的领事保护中心,毫无疑问是具体行动的主要 执行单位。黄屏在领事司说完这句话,又小跑着赶到领保中心重复了同样的话。 | They're taking an entire era with them. The secrets of that generation will sink into the depths of history and dissolve without a trace. And they, these minor figures who were either absent from the historical record or barely mentioned, will become like distant, lonely sails fading beyond the memory of future generations in another twenty or thirty years. |
| “有多少人呀?” | When my uncle died at Taipei Veterans General Hospital, I understood that what claimed his life and shattered his dream of returning home was not only illness, nor simply the situation across the Taiwan Strait. |
| “听说有一万多!” | Chapter One: Where Do You Come From, My Uncle |
| “何止,少说两三万呢!” | First Meeting |
| “天哪!这可怎么弄呀?”领事司和领保中心的年轻人近些年也经历过大大小 小十余次撤侨行动,但这么遥远,这么多人,又这么紧迫,他们可从来没有遇到过。 几万人的生命安危此刻与他们息息相关,亿万民众和数千万海外侨胞在热切关注, 其压カ之大可想而知。 | April 23, 1988, an ordinary day. Mother sent me to meet uncle at the station. |
| 此等事态外交部没有遇到过,中华人民共和国也没有遇到过。 | Mother's instructions were simple: your Uncle Hong Zhou, fifty-seven years old, from Taiwan, arriving at Beijing Station on the Beijing-Guangzhou line. |
| 20日晚,紧临外交部居住的不少北京市民看到那栋手风琴式的扇形大楼有不 少窗户彻夜通明 | At the time, I had no idea this date would be recorded in contemporary Chinese history. Uncle certainly wasn't a historical figure; although he was in Taiwan's massive Marine Corps, he was just a retired captain. I had not realized that an event drawing the attention of the world was rapidly unfolding on the land where we lived. With no train number or arrival time, all I could do was wait. I stood in the bustling crowd, approaching any middle-aged man who looked like he might be from Hong Kong or Taiwan as they exited the station: “Excuse me, are you Mr. Hong Zhou?” “No, no, I'm not.” |
| 21日早,黄屏和郭少春就从领保中心赶到部会议室参加应急领导小组碰头 会。平日总是笑容可掬的杨洁簷外长也来到会上,此刻杨外长的脸上已经没有一 丝笑意,他用极其深沉的语气再次强调:“继续密切关注利方局势发展,尽快做出撤 我同胞的方案。” | Countless guarded or self-important faces passed by. Countless wheeled suitcases were dragged away. |
| 是啊,大战将至,几万人的撤离方案怎么做?谁来做? | That afternoon, I stood at the Beijing Station exit for two solid hours. On her deathbed, Grandma's assessment of uncle had been: “He's not a real son, after all, he just left without even writing.” Grandma's complete disappointment in uncle made me unwilling to forgive this man I'd never met. I turned to head home, thinking: I'm done waiting. Years ago he left home without a word, making Grandma wait her whole life—now it's my turn to wait. Early the next morning, the phone rang shrilly and wouldn't stop. It was Mother calling. Her voice brimmed with excitement: “Your uncle got home at midnight yesterday! His plane landed in Tianjin—he took a taxi all the way from Tianjin to Beijing.” |
| “由宋涛牵头,办公厅协助,领事司和领保中心打头阵,其他部门全力配合。” 外交部应急领导小组组长张志军下达命令。 | Only then did I learn that uncle, as one of the first batch of veterans under Taiwan's new policy “allowing civilians to visit mainland relatives,” had flown from Taiwan to Hong Kong, then crossed the Luohu border to Guangzhou, and from there to Beijing. These men who'd longed for home for nearly forty years came out together like birds escaping their cages. |
| 碰头会用了不到半小时。接下命令后的黄屏和郭少春对视了一下,不约而同 地最先站起来。 | Uncle couldn't buy a direct train ticket from Guangzhou to Beijing. In his letter, he said he wanted to fulfill a dream by traveling the entire Beijing-Guangzhou line—to see the interior, to see Henan, to see the Yellow River, and ease his homesickness. |
| “黄屏、少春!”宋涛叫住了他们,“你们最好中午前把撤离预案给我,下午ー上 班要开部内协调会,紧接着是各部委之间的协调会。没有方案不行啊!” | At the Guangzhou station ticket window in 1988, crowds surged and jostled. Uncle, no longer used to such disorder, watched the pushing, shoving tide of people with amazement. At the time, he didn't know that mainland reforms were surging magnificently northward from this very gateway. |
| 黄屏和郭少春会意,这分明是“迫在眉睫”之上再加四个字:十万火急! | Someone approached him—a ticket scalper. “Soft sleeper to Beijing? No chance!” the scalper told him. “Take a plane—much faster!” Eager to get out of Guangzhou, uncle immediately pulled US dollars from his wallet and bought a plane ticket to Tianjin—not Beijing—at triple the price. |
| “是!宋副部长,我们ー定在中午前拿出预案!”黄屏回答得干脆利索。他拍 了一下郭少春,两人一路小跑着往领保中心赶。 | I rushed to Mother's house. When I pushed open the door, I saw uncle's smiling face. A warm surge of affection flowed straight to my heart. This is the image of uncle that has stayed with me ever since. He was solidly built with a ramrod-straight back—that unmistakable bearing of a trained soldier. He wore a wool suit, his dyed hair neatly parted. His eyes were small and squinted when he smiled, giving him a kind look. It was a gentle face, so gentle it made you forget Grandma's grievances, forget the decades of different circumstances, forget the distance between us—as if we'd always lived together like this, without any gap. Uncle, finding himself for the first time among our large, bustling family, was so happy he didn't know what to do with himself. He looked at this person, then that person, always with those squinting, smiling eyes. I dove into the kitchen to start cooking. At Chinese gatherings, food comes first. Uncle followed me into the kitchen, watching me with affection as he pressed red envelopes into my hands. Perhaps because I'd faced so much coldness in my youth, I'd never gotten used to receiving gifts. Besides, just yesterday I was still complaining about him—how could I accept red envelopes today? Uncle saw my embarrassment and said in a tone that brooked no argument: “Little Dong, this is everyone's share—adults and children all get one!” He grabbed my hand and wouldn't let go. His grip was strong. His hands were wide and thick, with a large jade ring on one finger. |
| “接下去的半天是怎么过来的,我真的想不起来了！”黄屏摇着头说,“反正我 和少春的脑子就像开足马カ的机器,全速运转。领事司和领保中心的几十号人也 都被动员起来,有的收集前方信息,有的研究撤离路线,有的测算运カ计划,有的与 驻利比亚和周边国家的使馆联系,还有的紧锣密鼓地与商务部、国资委、公安部、民 航局等单位沟通。总之,我们以最快速度做出了一份高质量的撤离预案报告,中午 前送到了办公厅,送到了宋涛副部长那里……” | Uncle stayed in Beijing for two months. What made him proudest was this: when the returning veterans gathered in Taipei to chat, others complained that their mainland relatives had asked them for money and goods, but uncle said he'd received so much he couldn't carry it all back. In the years that followed, whenever he mentioned this, his eyes would squint in that smile. |
| 这天中午,有人看到宋涛根本就没扒几口饭,办公厅的张明主任都没时间端饭 碗。他们的任务是马上把撤离预案改成上报部长和主管外交工作的国务委员戴秉 国同志的正式方案。与此同时,外交部牵头、有十多个部委参加的部际协调会也在 紧张地准备着。 | Hearing Mom Tell Past Stories |
| 下午2点30分,外交部的部内协调会首先召开。各部门领导参加,并形成七 | “Heaven sent us an uncle.” Mom shook her head. “Not at all! Your uncle took root in our family over fifty years ago. He's connected to us by blood.” Mom began telling us siblings the story: |
| 点意见,其中最重要的是撤离方案,而方案已经涉及海、陆、空联动,甚至考虑出动 军队 | You all know your uncle isn't my biological brother—to understand this, we have to start with the family history. Your grandma was from Henan, from a well-off family. After she married your grandpa, their circumstances declined. But Grandpa didn't let Grandma down—he had vision. He went into business early on, opening a steamed bun shop in the county seat called Yuxing Mantou Shop. Through honest dealing and good faith, he prospered. He hired workers, bought mules, and even built a two-story building. |
| 乖乖,这是啥阵势!有人在窃窃私语时瞪圆了眼睛。 | You all know Mencius's saying: “There are three forms of unfilial conduct, of which the worst is to have no descendants.” Your grandma grew up with this cultural belief. She gave birth to five of us daughters in a row, but no sons. Whether the clan criticized her or not, she couldn't hold her head up under the weight of having “no descendants.” The pain only deepened—my older and younger sisters died of illness one after the other, leaving only me in the middle. Even though I studied from elementary school through teacher training college with top grades and a good reputation far and wide, I still couldn't bring this family the honor of continuing the family line. |
| 4点整,由外交部牵头,公安部、安全部、交通运输部、农业部、商务部、国资委、 海关总署、国家质检总局、民航局、解放军总参谋部及相关公司负责人参加的部际 协调会在外交部大楼召开。宋涛主持会议,并向各单位布置撤离事宜的相关任务。 | An unexpected event saved this family. It was 1932, a year of great disaster when the Yellow River flooded and the roads were full of people fleeing their homes. Someone brought word that a refugee family wanted to find a way forward for their son. Grandpa said immediately: “Let's adopt this boy and let him carry on the family line.” Grandma naturally agreed. She bought children's clothes, and the three of us set out by donkey cart to a neighboring village. It was a windy, sandy day, bitterly cold. When we entered their home, we saw a poorly dressed couple waiting for us. The boy was two years old, naked, wrapped in a pile of tattered cloth. I reached out to play with him, but the boy's eyes were closed and he didn't respond at all. His mother, afraid we wouldn't want him, quickly explained: “The child hasn't had milk. He still can't talk.” Tears streamed down your grandma's face. She bent down to dress the child, then took out the ten silver dollars she'd prepared and placed them in the refugees' hands. The couple, torn between joy and sorrow, thanked us over and over before leaving. At the doorway, they turned back one more time to look at the boy now dressed in new clothes, but the child still had his eyes closed with no reaction. |
| 会上出现了一些意外,某在利比亚工程建筑公司负责人说着说着,竟然哭了起 来:“我们的工地从!9日开始,已经被那边的暴徒们连抢了好几次。他们都是拿着 枪的,我们有好几位工人被打伤了,可怜的是那些女同志,个个吓得不知咋办。刚 ォ来开会之前,我又跟那边联系了一次,说他们已经顶不住暴徒们的洗劫了,撤到 了沙漠的营地里。几分钟前我连续又打了十几个电话,可再也联系不上……这几 百号人,要出了问题,我可咋向他们的家属交代呀!求求你们外交部,求求政府,快 帮忙吧!” | You guessed right—this was uncle. The family finally had a son. Afterward, they hosted a welcoming banquet, treating the boy like a treasure. A local fortune teller with remarkable skill at reading faces declared: “This child's destiny lacks water—you must choose a name with plenty of water in it.” After some calculations, the fortune teller decided: “Great water is 'hong,' and where there's water there must be an islet, 'zhou'—call him 'Hong Zhou'!” |
| 那是位平时说话气壮山河的国企大老板。他的哭求,让会议顿添几分悲忧。 | I suddenly understood and interrupted Mother: “Was there too much water, so it put uncle on a water-surrounded islet—Taiwan Island?” Mother warned me: “Don't talk nonsense—your uncle might not even know his own background!” |
| “所以说,局势已经到了十分危急的时刻,大家必须怀着对人民负责的态度,迅 速行动,争分夺秒,尽可能地确保我在利公民的安全,顺利完成撤离任务!”宋涛高 声强调。 | Uncle's Memories |
| “那就把任务分配给我们吧!” | Overnight, uncle completed his transformation of identity. He still maintained his military posture and bearing, but now he wore Mother's house keys on his waist. He loved hearing those keys clank together—it meant he'd found home, and he liked that reminder. He hummed segments from Henan opera—Chang Xiangyu, Ma Jinfeng, Cui Lantian—as he came and went from the apartment building. The neighbors would comment: “Uncle's here? Look how much you and your sister look alike!” Uncle would squint and smile: “Real siblings—how could we not look alike?” |
| “对,叫我们干什么,尽管说来!” | Back then, I searched all the newspapers but couldn't find any announcement of Henan opera troupes performing in Beijing, so I kept ordering rushed videotapes of Henan opera—”Rolling the Mat,” “Executing Judge Bao,” “Mu Guiying Takes Command,” “Mulan,” “Qin Xuemei's Mourning,” “Carrying the Bridal Sedan,” “The Fragrance Pouch,” “Chen Sanliang in Court”—twenty or thirty tapes in all. Those were uncle's happiest times. He'd tap the sofa armrest in rhythm with the Henan opera on the tapes, his big hand with its jade ring keeping time, occasionally humming along. |
| “还有我们……” | I knew uncle had longed for this kind of warm family life for a very long time. But sometimes he'd let out a long sigh. I couldn't help but ask why he was sighing. Uncle's eyes reddened: “Missing your grandma. She never had a single good day. If only she could be here now, hand in hand with me, watching and listening to opera together—I could die satisfied.” |
| 各部委的态度,让外交部的同志非常感动。这时,办公厅有人来向宋涛报告: “戴国委马上到,他要见你。” | That day, uncle told me about his childhood: |
| “抱歉,我要去见ー下国务院领导。”宋涛ー听,立即中断会议上的发言,又朝 办公厅主任张明使了个眼色,两人匆匆赶到办公室。 | Your grandma—I called her Mother. The days I spent with Mother were the most blessed of my entire life. With Mother's and Father's love, I played carefree from age two to six. Back then, our family had land in the countryside and a shop in the county seat—we were known as a good family. |
| 国务委员戴秉国、杨洁簷外长、张志军书记前后脚进屋。 | Once, a shop assistant teased me, saying my situation was “wanting stars but not getting the moon.” When I heard that, I started pestering Father to fetch me the moon. Father was the shop owner and usually a man of few words—the workers were afraid of him, but I wasn't. Father was clever. He cut a cake into a crescent shape, held the yellow crescent in his palm, and coaxed me: “Look, I just picked this moon for my son. Eat it while it's soft.” Funny thing is, yesterday your mother told me that because Father and Mother favored me, she actually cried about it back then. |
| “老领导,你事先也不打个招呼,我好到门口接您去呀!”宋涛有些措手不及地 给首长让座。 | Like the sons of wealthy families, I started school at six. As long as I wanted, Father could have supported me all the way through, but I was no good—I'd skip class the moment I got to school and run off to play outside the village. In the end, I only studied for two or three years. That's my life's biggest regret. |
| “这是我的老家,还用客套吗?”戴秉国随手脱下长大衣,往椅子靠背上一放, 笑眯眯地对自己的老部下说。 | I really caused trouble for the family by running wild. |
| 作为主管国家外交事务的国务委员,戴秉国曾在外交部工作了 30多年,几乎 认识机关里的所有人。新老外交官们对他更熟悉,因为他对所有人都特别亲和,见 了人就眯眯笑,所以外交部上上下下都亲昵地称他是“可爱的小老头”。“快过70 了,个子又小,还不是小老头?”这些年,戴秉国逢人总这样说,说完又一脸笑眯眯。 | Once, when I was out playing beyond the village, bandits kidnapped me and demanded ten dan of grain as ransom. Even though our family wasn't short of food, one dan was a hundred jin, and ten dan was a thousand jin—enough to feed the whole family for a year. For small business people like us, this was like tearing the roof off the house. |
| 真是位可爱至极的领导人!但是此刻,戴秉国脸上的笑容很快消失了。当他 听完关于利比亚撤离方案的简短汇报后说:“我在利比亚的人员到底是两万人还是 三万人,或许更多?这么多人要在短时间内撤回来,形势严峻,事关重大,外交部恐 难独立应对,应当上升至国家层面来研究。” | The bandits locked me in a thatched hut. I thought Father would never ransom me, so I closed my eyes and waited to die. I was so scared, my little heart pounding. But before long, the bandits yanked the door open with a clang and said to me: “Your father's here. Go home.” I thought they were mocking me and didn't respond. But the bandit said again: “Your father's here. Go home!” I jumped up and stood in the doorway to look—sure enough, Father had come and was unloading the cart. The grain piled on that mule cart was so high! I didn't cry when I saw the bandits, didn't cry when I was locked in the thatched hut, but when I saw that grain piled like a small mountain on the cart, I burst into tears! That was grain Father and Mother had earned through backbreaking work, rising early and sleeping late! Father picked me up and wiped my tears with his handkerchief. The look in his eyes—I'll never forget it. So much love, so much tenderness! |
| 戴秉国只在外交部停留了不到半小时,但就是这半小时,完全改变了外交部原 先的撤离预案。也就是说,ー场中国有史以来最大的海外撤侨战役,从外交部层面 一下上升至国家层面! | After unloading the cart, Father settled me in the empty cart. He didn't point a finger at me, didn't say a single angry word. He just held me and drove the cart home. Mother had been waiting at the village entrance all day. She held me in her arms, tears streaming down her face, and I cried with emotion right then and there. Because of this, I made a vow in my heart to be a filial son and care for my parents in their old age and see them to their final rest! |
| “马上命令各部门按照戴国委的指示,迅速重新部署!”杨洁簷指示宋涛,当即 以外交部应急领导小组的名义,向部机关和前方使领馆发出新的战令。 | The family business grew. While other people’s steamed buns were five to a jin, any four of ours would weigh more than a jin. No alkali, white and fluffy, and cheaper too. Father knew business. He gave discount cards to regular customers. With more and more repeat customers, the steamed bun shop opened branch locations. Father became somebody in the county town. Still a man of few words, but when he walked down the street in his fox fur robe, people would greet this boss. Father stopped working with his own hands, left everything to the accountant, and hired more and more workers. |
| 黄屏接到的部里命令是,要他马上成立以领保中心为主的外交部利比亚撤侨 应急指挥中心,其任务为:全力配合和协助国家有关部门进行利比亚撤侨工作。 | If not for what happened later, this family would have had such a good life! Father stopped coming home much. He took a second wife—your second grandma. We privately called her “Number Two.” I was just a child then and didn't understand why Father would take a second wife. Our mother was acknowledged as the beauty of the whole village—double eyelids, big eyes, black hair pulled back in a bun, capable and kind. I was so proud of Mother. That one time, Mother cried. After she finished crying, she calmly told Father: “Don't stay away—move back and let's all live together.” And so Number Two entered the family, and my good days came to an end. This Number Two was much younger than Mother and, relying on Father's favor, looked down on everyone. One day, that young woman pointed at my head and said: “Hey, boy, you're grown now. You can't eat for free anymore—go sell steamed buns.” With one sentence, Number Two changed my status. And so at age ten, I became a shop assistant, going out every day to sell steamed buns, then coming home to report the accounts and turn in the money. If I didn't sell them all, I didn't get to eat. |
| 领事司的内部动员会即时召开,三四十名业务骨干被抽调到领保中心的应急 队伍之中。 | One time I didn't sell all the steamed buns, and Number Two wouldn't let me eat. Mother saw this and wouldn't stand for it—she gave food to refugees and beggars, so how could she watch me go hungry? Number Two wasn't afraid of Mother. She shouted: “Who is this boy? Why should he eat for free?” Mother usually didn't say much, but this time she wouldn't budge an inch: “Who is he? He's my son—even eating for free is his right!” Number Two tossed her head and slammed the lid down on the steamer basket with a bang. |
| “大家听着,我们要打大仗了！从现在开始,全体人员都要进入24小时应急状 态,直到撤离战斗结束!”黄屏像个前线指挥官,站在领保中心那间办公室中央,这 样命令着。 | All my pent-up resentment surged up. I stamped my feet and shouted at Number Two: “You cheap little woman!” I drew out the word “cheap,” long and harsh. Mother was stunned and quickly turned to shield me. Number Two let out a shriek and lunged at me, and across Mother, she slapped me hard across the face. Little Dong, from that moment on, my right ear went deaf—I still can't hear clearly out of it. Later, when the Japanese devils invaded, the steamed bun shop couldn't operate anymore. My sister—your mother—went off to fight the Japanese. Number Two had a son, and Father moved out with her to live separately. From then on, the family was scattered. I never saw Father again. |
| 副司长兼领保中心主任郭少春做出具体分エ:“中心需要分为联络组、信息文 电组、包机组、电话值班组……所有同志一律两班倒,24小时全程值班!” | Mother took me with her as we fled the Japanese soldiers, and we returned to the village. Mother farmed and spun thread. When there was food, I ate first. When there was cloth, I wore it first. I understood things early. Every day I rushed to help Mother carry water and chop firewood. Afraid Mother would worry about missing my sister, I always tried to make her happy. To describe those eight years Mother and I spent together in just a few words: we depended on each other for survival! Later, after the War of Resistance ended, my sister sent word for us to come find her in Xuzhou, Jiangsu. Only then did our family of three reunite. |
| “今晚要在中央电视台《新闻联播》节目中和新闻频道上滚动播出我们领保中 心有关利比亚撤侨的热线电话,接电话的同志安排好了没有?至少两位同志。我 看还是女同志当接线员好一些,她们态度好,公众容易接受。女同志谁上呢?郝雨 和陈枫吧！今晚开始你们就要提前进入战斗了！有没有问题?”黄屏吊着嗓子问。 | I don't know when Mother came into the room. She interjected: “Hong Zhou, we moved from Xuzhou, Jiangsu to Changsha, Hunan in 1948, right?” Uncle said: “Yes, Sister.” Mother finally spoke the words that should have been said in 1948: “Those were the hardest days for our family. Your brother-in-law bought you a shoulder pole and baskets to sell vegetables to help support the family. You—why did you leave home without saying a word?” I knew this was the most painful and difficult thing for uncle to face. His straight back bent and his voice dropped to almost a murmur: “I was... caught as a conscript...” Mother's voice softened too: “Do you know our mother grieved her whole life? Even on her deathbed she kept calling 'Hong Zhou, Hong Zhou'?” Uncle couldn't take it. He raised his head, tears brimming in his eyes. “I, I, I...” Uncle said, “I missed Mother my whole life, Sister!” He burst out with a man's sob. |
| “没有!”郝雨、陈枫两位女同志异口同声道。 | Truth of Uncle's Disappearance |
| “家耀,抱歉了。今天是你儿子满月后上班的第一天,却不能让你回家 黄屏拍拍联络组组长、领保中心副主任朱家耀的肩膀,满怀歉意地说。 | Why did uncle leave? Two generations of our family puzzled over this question for half their lives. Now, from the bits and pieces of conversation between Mother and uncle, I've pieced together this family history. |
| “把前线的情况赶紧摸清楚,就算是我最对得起儿子和他妈了！”朱家耀连头 都没回一下,已经俯身操起办公桌上的专用电话,向中国驻利比亚大使馆喊着:“是 王大使吗?请把你们那边的情况再跟我说说……” | Let's return to 1948 in Changsha. |
| “民航局吗?请你们确定在这几天里能抽调多少架飞机 群、张良轮番给民航局打电话。 | I wasn't born yet. I had three older siblings. At the end of the twentieth century, the Chinese Writers Association awarded Father a memorial plaque for Anti-Japanese War writers. Back then he was the editor-in-chief of a newspaper and had written and published many poems about the war, but as soon as the war ended, he lost his job. |
| “司长,请你马上审阅……”领保中心的另一位副主任张洋将已经拟好的公民 告示和热线电话电文,递到黄屏手里如果没问题,电文将在中央电视台《新闻联 播》中和新闻频道滚动播出。” | When Father saw Grandfather off to Taiwan, the steamship at Guangzhou's Huangpu Port was puffing white steam. Grandfather, then a Kuomintang military officer, embraced Father tightly and said in a trembling voice: “My son, the newspaper has closed, you've lost your salary, and old people and children need to eat and drink. Why are you staying on the mainland?” Father wouldn't answer why. He just firmly repeated: “I'm not leaving.” The moment Grandfather stepped onto the steamship, he said something Father would never forget—something he told me several times later: “Do you really trust those 'leftist' friends of yours?” |
| “我看可以。少春,你再推敲一下。”黄屏迅速扫了一眼,随即塞给郭少春。 | Tears streamed down Father's face. This was the clash of their different political views over many years. Waving, waving, waving. Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye. That gradually shrinking figure finally disappeared, vanished forever from both their lives. Father and Grandfather never saw each other again. |
| 郭少春认真看完电文后,果断地说:“就这样吧!” | Winter in Changsha was empty and cold. Father and Mother, Grandma, uncle, and my older siblings—seven people in the family huddled around a charcoal basin to eat. Back then, Father had started doing small business while Mother crocheted hats to sell. Unfortunately, my young siblings came down with fevers. Two shots of penicillin, and the family was out of food money. The red glow from the charcoal basin grew weaker and weaker until finally the embers went out completely. Grandma sighed and moved the charcoal basin outside the wooden door—there was no money to buy more charcoal. Mother's hands, from crocheting hats, were swollen high from the cold. |
| 黄屏拿着手机,边接听电话,边拉过郭少春说:“部里指示,让我们把撤离方案 报告再审核一下,立即送中央……” | That year uncle was eighteen, carrying baskets to sell vegetables on the street. Full of ambition, whenever he headed out with his vegetables toward the sun, he harbored a hope—how could he change the family's circumstances? The moment of change came. Two soldiers approached him head-on. Uncle was about to ask if they wanted to buy vegetables when they spoke up: “Hey, we'll take you somewhere you can get a meal.” Uncle sensed trouble and grabbed his baskets to run, but someone had already clamped down on his shoulder. Uncle struggled and shouted: “I have a mother—I need to ask my mother!” The other man casually tossed the baskets aside and said: “First come see the barracks, then ask your mother.” With the press gang escorting him, uncle shuffled his feet forward. Back then, uncle was a country boy who'd never seen the world. He didn't know the war situation across the country. He didn't know that in the Liaoshen Campaign, the Liberation Army had completely annihilated 470,000 Kuomintang troops, and the Huaihai Campaign was starting right after. He didn't know the Kuomintang forces were losing battle after battle, retreating again and again, conducting massive press gangs to replenish their troops. He didn't know the Communists were already preparing to establish the People's Republic of China. |
| 几十分钟后,《新闻联播》节目开始,亿万人民都看到了屏幕下方一行不断滚 动着的文字一外交部在利比亚中国公民领事保护中心应急热线电话:（010 ） 65963747、（010）65964095…… | This Communist-Kuomintang war, which fifty years later uncle would describe as “a struggle for power and a contest over how to govern the country,” gave the young uncle of that time only the psychological sensations of fear and bewilderment. Uncle couldn't tell the Communist Party from the Kuomintang, the Liberation Army from the Kuomintang forces, and he certainly didn't know he'd just become a conscript. |
| 从这一刻起,外交部领保中心的电话铃声,片刻都没有停息过,它连着亿万国 人牵挂的心,连着世界各地 | They walked and walked. The sun climbed higher. In uncle's heart, a sun also rose—that hope he'd been harboring grew bright: wear a military uniform for six months or a year, take the money home, and Mother and Sister would be able to eat their fill! Uncle relaxed. He actually shook off the press gang's grip and strode into the barracks on his own. History stopped right there. Uncle's identity as a farmer ended at that moment. From then on, he became a soldier in the Kuomintang army. |
| “第一天、第二天我还能扛得住,后来我的胳膊全都麻了。麻了也要不断地抬 着,习惯性地伸缩。总之,你问我ー天接多少电话,我根本记不清,有好几百个吧!” 接受采访时,陈枫说。 | Chapter Two: Separated by One Strait |
| “电话多数是在利比亚工作同志的家属打来的。有人第一次打来就哭,那是焦 急地哭;第二次打来还是哭,是高兴地哭,知道我们帮他们找到了亲人;第三次打电 话接着哭,因为知道自己的亲人平安无事后,激动地感谢党和政府……”郝雨说。 | This Side and That Side of the Strait |
| 热线电话里除了哭,就是喊,不停地喊着“求政府”“求外交部”“求大使馆”救 救他们的亲人。也有人从战乱中的利比亚打来电话,请外交部向他们国内的亲人 转告平安,还有人惊慌失措半天说不出话,只是一味地哭泣…… | The Kuomintang military formation marched south day and night without stopping. Uncle panicked—he knew home was to the north. He wanted to run, but the cases of summary execution for deserters made him change his thinking. For the first time in this ragtag group, uncle recognized his own intelligence and organizational ability. He rallied his companions: work for now, watch for a chance to escape. |
| 所有人都在着急,所有中国人都在为远在万里之外、身处险境的同胞们着急！ | When the army rested again, they'd traveled south to a nameless little island. All the soldiers were cursing, unable to understand why the army wasn't fighting but was instead retreating straight toward this godforsaken wilderness far from home. |
| 此刻,还有一位更着急的人,他就是国务委员戴秉国。 | Uncle had inherited his parents' quiet disposition, which made him seem mature and steady among the cursing soldiers, and this caught the officers' attention. A few months later, uncle never found a chance to escape—instead, he was promoted step by step and made a platoon leader, drilling soldiers on the little island every day. He told me later that during this period, the only thing that could ease his homesickness was a little white dog. That dog would wake him at a set time every night for the night watch, and so uncle would ignore military regulations, wake up and hold the dog while making his rounds of the barracks. The new soldiers were afraid of his authority and said they'd never seen the platoon leader smile. But uncle said that if he hadn't been afraid of implicating the entire platoon, he would have deserted long ago to find Mother! |
| 从外交部出来,应是快下班的5点来钟。戴秉国赶着去钓鱼台参加ー项重要 的外交活动:陪国家主席胡锦涛会见某国总统。原本这是一次礼节性活动,然而今 天我们的国务委员肩负着神圣使命,他要当面向胡主席请示,把利比亚撤侨战役上 升至国家层面。 | The days on the little island came to an end—the formation assembled for departure. The soldiers who'd been wholeheartedly hoping to go home, amid the sound of waves on the vast ocean, amid the sound of People's Liberation Army artillery, at the docks where large ships were moored and small boats collided chaotically, amid the sound of countless soldiers beating their chests and stamping their feet crying toward the north, as countless men desperately climbed rope ladders trying to reach the doors of the large ship cabins—suddenly understood their situation. |
| 前线形势越来越严峻,每一分钟的延误都有可能给我几万同胞带来不堪设想 的严重后果。 | In 1949, 1.2 million mainland Kuomintang military personnel and their families boarded ships bound for Taiwan in batches. At that moment, uncle let go of the little white dog that was howling mournfully. |
| “主席,关于利比亚撤侨的事需要向您请示……”傍晚,戴秉国见缝插针,在胡 锦涛主席宴请总统的间隙,凑到胡主席身边,俯着身子轻声汇报。 | After reorganization, uncle entered the regular Marine Corps. This Marine Corps was a strategic reserve force directly under the Taiwan military general staff, specifically tasked with rapid-response combat missions on land and at sea. It was considered an “offensive combat” branch and was the envy of other soldiers. |
| 胡锦涛不时点头,时而转过头,ーー指示戴秉国…… | During the chaotic changing of defense positions for this unit, uncle unexpectedly ran into an extremely important person. |
| 很快,戴秉国离开了钓鱼台,乘车直奔中南海的办公室。 | At the time, uncle was leading his unit, waiting for orders at the station of a small Taiwan city. While he was feeling frustrated, several senior officers passed nearby. Uncle stared—the man in front looked refined and upright. He looked like... like... like his brother-in-law! Of course it wasn't his brother-in-law—judging by age, it should be his brother-in-law's father! |
| “接外交部……”戴秉国进办公室门的第一句话就对秘书说。秘书抓起电话 的那一瞬间,有些心疼地看了一眼自己的首长:他可已是70岁的人了! | Dear readers, uncle's brother-in-law was my father! Uncle jumped up right away. He knew that if he delayed even a few minutes, he'd never find this officer in the sea of people! Uncle rushed forward and snapped to attention, saluting. The refined, upright officer stopped and said kindly: “Young man, can I help you?” Uncle said: “Sir, my brother-in-law is XX. Are you...” Uncle watched the officer nervously, as if this man held his fate in his hands. The officer smiled and grabbed his hand: “Wonderful, wonderful—we're family! Let me give you an address!” My grandfather took a pen from his orderly and scribbled hastily. This high official, in the second year when return to the mainland was already hopeless, brought over all the family members except my father. Heaven helped our family. Many years later, it was through these connections that our uncles and aunts in Taiwan, including uncle himself, found our family in Beijing. |
| 晚9点,外交部办公室里,宋涛正在与我驻利比亚大使王旺生通话:“形势十分 严峻,国家层面的撤侨行动马上要全面开始,你们一方面要尽全力做好在利人员的 保护和撤离工作,也要加强防范,确保自身安全。”宋涛语气坚定,又充满感情地吩 咐道。 | In Taiwan, unbearable events kept happening. The worst were the early years when the unit couldn't provide food—soldiers subsisted on sweet potatoes and wild vegetables. |
| “请部里放心!请党中央放心,我们一定坚守到底,完……成好……祖国交给 的任务!” | The officers and soldiers didn't know that the Chiang Kai-shek regime had signed a mutual defense treaty with the United States and was pouring the gold they'd brought from the mainland into military expenses. Decades later, published figures proved that in the 1950s, Taiwan's military spending took up over 70% of the total fiscal budget, and in the '60s it was still 50%—while officers, soldiers, and their families endured hunger under the banner of “united in heart and mind, return home and restore the nation”! |
| “你的嗓子怎么了?已经哑了吗?老王,你身体怎么样?顶得住吗?战斗就要 开始了……”宋涛不无担心地问,又心疼地叮嘱,“你和同志们千万要注意身 体啊!” | Strategically, the Chiang Kai-shek regime treated Taiwan as a place to recuperate and launched a plan for “one year of preparation, two years of counterattack, three years of mopping up, five years of success.” In other words, the Chiang Kai-shek regime predicted it would retake the mainland in 1954-1955. |
| “我挺得住,请放心……”远方传来的声音断断续续,还伴随着喧喧啦啦的 杂音。 | The sacrificial victims weren't just the 600,000 officers and soldiers and another 600,000 family members who went to Taiwan in 1949. Add to that the officers, soldiers, and families who made their way to Taiwan from Hainan Island, the Zhoushan Islands, and other places in 1950, and the Taiwan arrivals reached two million. The Chiang Kai-shek regime could only arrange hasty settlements for dependents—Taiwan's schools, temples, farmhouses, and cattle sheds were filled with mainlanders. These slums, later called “military dependents' villages,” numbered 763 across Taiwan with 96,082 dependent households. Later, famous people who came out of the military dependents' villages—like Song Chuyu, Wu Xiaoli, Li Liqun, and Teresa Teng—all went through those early hardships with their fathers and brothers during the retreat to Taiwan, having to fill their stomachs with sweet potatoes and vegetable leaves. |
| 宋涛看了看手表,对办公厅张明主任说:“的黎波里的通信状况已经变得不大 稳定了,情况在恶化。事不宜迟,你叫上晓东、黄屏他们,1〇点钟到我这里,咱们再 开个紧急碰头会。” | Like cut leeks, soldiers fell in waves. Hunger, swelling, climate unsuitability. Uncle was dizzy from hunger and couldn't stand up straight. In those years, if stones had been soft, he would have stuffed them in his mouth too. |
| 9点50分,办公厅、政策司、亚非司、领事司等几个部门的负责人提前到达外 交部会议室。宋涛说:“中央正在研究我们的报告,部里的工作必须提前进入战斗 状态。这样,一旦中央的决定下达,整个撤离战役就会以排山倒海之势展开。人命 关天,从现在起我们不能耽搁哪怕是一分钟的时间！” | Uncle and the old soldiers would huddle together, pressing each other's faces and legs to compare whose indentations were deeper, then cursing and thoroughly denouncing the misdeeds of various bastards, completely ignoring military regulations. After that came the wailing. |
| 停顿了一下后,宋涛看着黄屏、郭少春,下达指示:“你们必须立刻通知驻埃及、 土耳其、突尼斯、希腊、马耳他等国的使领馆做好相关工作,请当地政府为我们从利 比亚撤离人员提供一切可能的入境及安置便利;还有,要以最快的速度了解从有关 国家租用飞机、轮船等交通工具的可能……” | The Taiwan Strait was blockaded. Even the boldest didn't dare risk charges of “collaborating with the enemy and treason” to try to go home, and so the soldiers in the barracks went mad crying for their fathers and mothers. |
| 会议开了不到半个小时,但宋涛发出的指令足有几十条,每一条都十万火急！ | Uncle stood alone before the endless vast ocean, weeping night after night, talking to Mother night after night. He remembered the scene of my grandma spinning and weaving—back then Grandma would hum Henan opera tunes while he ran around the loom, playing and singing along. He remembered the scene of my grandma holding his little hand as they visited neighbors—Grandma helping him into his silk jacket and the hat with two copper sticks holding up the petals, those petals bouncing with each step, making all the children on the street envious. He remembered the scene of my grandma being squeezed out by Second Grandma, and he swore he'd protect my grandma for life so she wouldn't suffer. He even fantasized about children running all over calling him “Hong Zhou”... |
| 办公厅、亚非司,尤其是黄屏、郭少春他们的领事司和领保中心,背回去的任务 具体落实起来足有几卡车那么多！ | The deep, unbearable suffering was the loneliness of being torn from home and family. Uncle didn't know that this suffering had only just sprouted—it would grow and spread, then wrap around uncle for his entire life, eventually driving him nearly insane. |
| 回过头来再看中南海的ー连串“国家决定”程序。 | Retired Days |
| 外交部的撤离报告送至戴秉国手里后,随即被呈报到总理办公室。 | Most of a lifetime, gone just like that. |
| 总理温家宝神情严峻而凝重地在关于利比亚撤侨“ー级响应”的请示报告上 | Unable to endure the various inhumane restrictions in the unit, uncle retired early from his position as captain and deputy company commander of the 651st Regiment of the Taiwan Marine Corps, military service number 629581. By regulation, he was entitled to a pension for life. Accustomed to simple living, he didn't spend much each month. Later he found work, and over time his savings gradually grew. |
| 写下长长的一行重要批示…… | One day, while drinking at the home of his fellow townsman Old Liu, he suddenly collapsed in grief. Only then did he realize that the sorrow accumulated deep in his heart had left no trace on the surface. Mrs. Liu decisively had people carry uncle to the hospital. Myocardial infarction. The doctor said: “You're getting old—no smoking, no drinking, and don't get agitated.” He listened and quit smoking and drinking. Housing prices were low at the time, and he planned to buy a place and live out his days peacefully in Taipei. Mrs. Liu was also from Henan, and in this household, she called the shots. The straightforward and warm Mrs. Liu made an immediate decision: “Brother Hong Zhou, build your house on our roof—we'll be one family!” This was Wanda Road in Taipei, where poor people lived and urban renewal was coming. |
| 一直等待最高领导决策的国务委员戴秉国,此时刚想脱下衣服往床上靠ー靠, 红机电话铃响了:“秉国同志啊,总书记和总理批示了,让我和你ー起来指挥这场战 斗……前方的形势很紧急,你看我们是不是明天……不对,现在已经过零点了,应 该是今天一早就开第一次国务院应急指挥部会议?” | Uncle hesitated, afraid of causing trouble for others. |
| 是政治局委员、副总理张德江来电。 | Old Liu was an honest man, a retired veteran. Seeing his wife's decision, he also urged uncle to move in. Uncle couldn't resist their persuasion and agreed—build the house! Three rooms. The original three rooms downstairs where the Liu family lived stayed as they were. The three new rooms upstairs were uncle's home. Later, uncle said the money he spent building that house would have been enough to buy a new place in a good location. |
| “好,我完全同意。不过建议今天的会比平时早一点开〇”戴秉国说。 | And so uncle became part of the Liu family. Every day after work he'd come back, and they'd eat together, play cards together, chat together—quite happy and harmonious. But later, uncle discovered something was wrong. Mrs. Liu managed Old Liu's accounts and also collected uncle's pension every month, so uncle had to ask for money when he needed to spend anything. Uncle didn't like being controlled. After he got one pension payment and kept half of it, Mrs. Liu's face changed. After that, the Liu family's grandchildren would pester uncle for pocket money every few days, and whenever Mrs. Liu and her daughter traveled abroad, they'd ask uncle for money. |
| “那好,就定8点正式开会。我来安排人往下通知,你眯一会儿……”张德 江说。 | Uncle went to work every day, ate at the Liu house less and less, and was increasingly reluctant to climb up to his second-floor home, but he still dutifully paid living expenses and still took care of the Liu grandchildren's pocket money. Sometimes he'd ask himself: how did life turn out like this? But he always found reasons to convince himself: they sent you to the hospital and saved your life—isn't that kindness greater than anything? |
| 副总理和国务委员之间的电话暂时放下。随即,中南海的电话将一个个相关 人员叫醒: | Seeking Mainland Relatives |
| “尤权副秘书长,请您8点务必准时参加国务院召开的会议……”国务院副秘 书长尤权接电话的时候,还没有睡。 | The once vigorous soldiers had become stooped and bent, their hair white. Many old soldiers, in situations like uncle's, had been grabbed off the street into the barracks while their families knew nothing. And so for many years, they wanted to convey just one sentence to their relatives—just one: I'm alive. For these three words, the old soldiers endured for ten years, then another ten years, but later they couldn't endure anymore—their parents were getting old. They began to gather at the risk of imprisonment, discussing how to get word to their parents. |
| “杨外长,请您8点务必准时到中南海参加紧急会议……”杨洁簷接到通知时 间为凌晨1点左右。宋涛比黄屏接到会议通知早十几分钟。 | Dear readers, the “risk of imprisonment” I mention here is not an exaggeration. Taiwan writer Liao Xinzhong used the term “White Terror” to describe the political atmosphere in Taiwan at that time in “Taiwan Common People's Own Stories”: “For Taiwan, this term largely refers to the Kuomintang's purging and persecution of dissidents or suspects since taking control of Taiwan. The people of Taiwan lived in this environment for a long time, afraid to speak, afraid to express opinions.” Liao Xinzhong also mentioned how this political high pressure penetrated to the next generation: “Chiang Kai-shek's influence persisted into the late 1980s and early 1990s. When I was in elementary school, we still had to memorize 'Chiang Gong's Last Will,' and in music class we had to learn 'Chiang Gong Memorial Songs.' Every time a teacher mentioned Chiang Kai-shek or 'National Father' Sun Yat-sen, everyone had to sit up straight or stand at attention to show respect.” |
| 国资委副主任黄丹华接到会议通知时,大约为2点钟。 | In the late 1980s, my uncle in Taiwan asked me to send him a copy of “Lu Xun's Collected Letters.” Following his instructions, I first wrapped “Lu Xun's Collected Letters” in a different cover with a different title and mailed it to Hong Kong, then had a Hong Kong friend repackage it as a Hong Kong publication before sending it on to Taiwan. Uncle wrote in his letter: You must be careful—if they find out, I'll go to prison! |
| 中建总局、国家民航局领导们则在凌晨3点左右接到通知…… | Like the old soldiers' patience, this era's patience had also swollen to its limit. On January 1, 1979, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress published “A Message to Taiwan Compatriots,” announcing that the People's Liberation Army would stop shelling Kinmen and hoping to achieve navigation and postal communication. In 1981, Taiwan's “Times Weekly” and Taipei's “Prospects” magazine held symposiums on the theme of “Chinese Unification.” In June 1982, Taiwan's “Free China Voice” magazine, with Chiang Kai-shek's son Chiang Hsiao-wu as publisher, published special editorials advocating that Chinese peaceful unification proceed in “three stages.” |
| 这一夜,中南海的许多人彻夜未眠,因为需要为8点所召开的会议准备各种 材料。 | Later, Chinese-American Chen Xiangmei discussed this history. When answering a Xinhua News Agency reporter's questions on August 21, 2004, she revealed that the issue of Taiwan veterans returning home to visit relatives was first raised by Deng Xiaoping. She said that in the early 1980s, Deng Xiaoping suggested to her that they could first let the veterans in Taiwan go home to visit relatives, saying that everyone was Chinese, everyone had parents, brothers, sisters, wives, and children. So Ms. Chen went to Taiwan and conveyed this message to the Taiwan side. |
| 数十个部委的主要领导者同样不能睡觉,他们多数人接到电话通知后就知道 中央必定有特别紧急的大事,谁还能睡得着呀?那些住在城郊的同志干脆在接到 会议通知后,直接开始往中南海赶了…… | The old soldiers learned all the information about visiting relatives from mainland broadcasts that Taiwan authorities forbade them to listen to. For Deng Xiaoping's compassionate and reasonable views mentioned above, uncle never forgot Deng Xiaoping's kindness. On his last visit to Beijing, an artist drew his portrait and made his face look quite a bit like Deng Xiaoping—uncle actually laughed out loud, took it back to Taiwan, and hung it on his home wall. Of course, that was later. |
| 6点50分,黄屏带着他与郭少春用几个小时准备和修改好的撤离草案,随杨 洁簷、宋涛等赶赴中南海。 | The old soldiers racked their brains trying to find a way to communicate with home. Hard work pays off—an opportunity came. |
| “我们到国办会场时,还不到7点半,所有参与行动的相关单位的负责人几乎 都到齐了ド’黄屏对那一天的会议情景记忆深刻。平时国务院开会,都是在9点开 始,201I年2月22日这一天例外。因为这一天的前夜,国家主席胡锦涛和总理温 家宝正式做出了从利比亚撤侨的决定,采用的是“国家一级响应” 〇 | It was a sunny day. The old soldiers invited several Hong Kong businessmen who'd come to Taiwan for tea. The Hong Kong men, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, were very refined and generous. They said everyone was Chinese, everyone was brothers, everyone had parents and wives and children—naturally they could forward letters. The old soldiers were moved to tears and said they wouldn't let them work for nothing, they'd pay a fee. The Hong Kong men said, well then we won't be polite—business is business, and forwarding letters at the risk of execution still requires a good handling fee. The old soldiers put down their teacups and declared in unison they weren't afraid to spend money. The Hong Kong men said businessmen keep their word—hand over the letters and money in five days, and in two months you'll see replies from your mainland relatives. |
| 何为“国家一级响应”?用通俗的话讲,即为国家最高级别的动员,与应对 2008年汶川大地震同等级别! | The old soldiers jumped up and embraced each other, weeping. They completely ignored the elegant, quiet atmosphere of the teahouse and the protesting looks from other patrons, just beat their chests and stamped their feet, shouting that heaven had opened its eyes. |
| 22日8时整,国务院副总理、利比亚大撤离行动国家应急指挥部总指挥张德 | Uncle ran excitedly to Changhua City to ask my uncle for the address—Grandfather and uncle both lived in Changhua City. Compared to uncle, my grandfather was much luckier. He'd long since entrusted friends in Kowloon to forward letters. By the time uncle went to Changhua, Grandfather and uncle had already exchanged several letters with Father. |
| 江来到会场。 | My grandfather lived a low-profile life and never boasted about personal achievements in his letters. Father told me Grandfather was brilliantly talented, accomplished in poetry, calligraphy, chess, and painting—he said none of us descendants could match him. There's an interesting story about the correspondence. My grandfather's calligraphy was beautiful. Before entrusting Kowloon friends to forward letters, he actually went to Hong Kong himself and mailed a letter directly to my father at our old home in Yunmeng, Hubei. Of course Grandfather didn't know we'd moved to Beijing long ago. His letter amazingly wasn't intercepted—it was delivered straight to the village. This was during our “Cultural Revolution,” when overseas mail was routinely treated as evidence of collaborating with the enemy and treason. But because of the beautiful calligraphy on the envelope, the production brigade accountant couldn't bear to turn it in and treasured it instead. Grandfather couldn't hold out until the 1990s when my father, as a mainland writer, visited Taiwan. The old man had a stroke and lay bedridden for several years before passing away in Changhua in the late 1980s. |
| “嘿,都到齐啦!看来我们的队伍真是拉得出、打得响啊!”副总理满意地点点 头,然而这仅仅是瞬间的轻松。会议开始,气氛骤然凝重和紧张起来:利比亚形势 瞬息万变,每一分钟都在向不可预测的方向恶化…… | Uncle began writing the first letter of his life. He had no confidence and kept crossing things out. Finally he handed the pen to Old Liu's daughter—uncle would say a sentence, and the middle school student would write a sentence. Just when they were writing enthusiastically, Mrs. Liu broke in with a comment: “Hong Zhou, don't tell me you're the only one being enthusiastic about this?” Uncle glanced at her and noticed her expression was strange, with a clear reluctance for uncle to contact mainland relatives. |
| “那天的会议上,我们心情都很沉重,但大家又都很有信心,都朝着ー个目标努 力:按照中央领导的意见,克服一切困难,把我们的同胞救出来!整个决策和方案 都充满智慧,各单位纷纷请战,令人感动。”采访时,杨洁簷外长这样对我说。 | The old soldiers' letters filled an entire briefcase, along with another briefcase of Taiwan dollars and decades of heavy hopes—all of it was handed over to the Hong Kong men at their hotel. The Hong Kong men with their gold-rimmed glasses remained refined and generous, slowly repeating reassuring words. The old soldiers generously invited the Hong Kong men to drink, raising their glasses to celebrate the wish that was about to come true, as if they could hardly bear the weight of the joy that was coming. |
| “从利比亚撤侨,涉及几万人的身家性命,事关大局,我们一定要千方百计保障 我方人员安全,千方百计保障我财产安全,千方百计维护我国家利益……”张德江 强调的这三个“千方百计”成为整个撤侨战役的行动方针。 | Then came the waiting, the waiting. One month, two months, half a year—none of the old soldiers received replies. |
| “这么大的战役,我们要有对困难的足够估计,也要有死人的准备……必要时, 请求中央军委出动军事力量〇”戴秉国补充道。 | A suspicion that had flickered repeatedly in the old soldiers' hearts became a judgment, and that judgment proven by facts struck the old soldiers' hearts like steel whips: the Hong Kong men had taken the money and gone back to Hong Kong to live the good life! The deceived old soldiers wailed together in grief and anger. When they realized they should settle accounts with the Hong Kong men for their shameless behavior, they discovered they'd left behind no information at all. |
| 会议宣布张德江为总指挥,戴秉国协助张德江,国务院副秘书长尤权为总协 调。各相关单位请战情绪高涨,外交部被指定为国务院应急指挥部办公室,部长杨 洁簷主抓,部党委书记张志军为外交部应急、领导小组组长,宋涛、翟隽为副组长。 | Heaven never completely cuts off people's paths. Like the old soldiers, the far-sighted people of this era, after maintaining silence for decades, burst out with a deafening roar. In April 1986, the Kaohsiung City Council passed a proposal demanding that the Kuomintang authorities allow mainlanders to correspond with mainland relatives “to comfort family affections”! The Democratic Progressive Party, established in 1986 and advocating “human rights above all, regardless of party, humanity first, family affection first,” launched a “return home to visit relatives movement” in early 1987! On April 18, 1987, multiple Kuomintang “Legislative Committee” members raised questions demanding that Taiwan authorities reexamine the “Three No” policy to meet realistic needs! |
| 外交部实际上担任了整个撤侨行动的前线指挥部职能。 | On May 2, 1987, more than 6,000 mainlanders in Taipei established the “Mainlander Hometown Visit Promotion Association,” demanding permission to return to their mainland hometowns. They wore white shirts with the words “Missing Home,” distributed leaflets, and demonstrated. On May 10, they gathered in front of the Taipei Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall and held a “Longing for Mother from Afar” event. This organization's declaration moved countless hearts: |
| 战斗部署完毕,ー场有史以来中国最大的撤侨行动开始了一 | Due to harsh prohibitions, for over forty years, how many people have suppressed their bone-deep longing for relatives in the depths of their hearts. We have already exhausted our precious youth for the Kuomintang and have been silent for forty years. Now is the time for all of us to unite and speak out. All we ask is: if our parents are alive, let us go back and offer them a cup of tea; if they're gone, let us go back and burn incense for them... |
| 前方,战乱惊心 | Uncle, a man with a rebellious streak, undoubtedly supported all the protest activities. He was a Kuomintang party member who had once believed in Kuomintang central authority, but after corrupt reality shattered his dreams of returning home, he freely withdrew from the party and stopped paying party dues. In early 1987, Chiang Ching-kuo instructed relevant departments to study the possibility of opening up for people to visit the mainland and see relatives. On July 27, 1987, Taiwan's transportation and interior authorities jointly announced the lifting of restrictions—in place since April 1979—that prevented Taiwan compatriots from using Hong Kong and Macau as their first stop for outbound travel, allowing Taiwan people to travel to Hong Kong but not to enter the mainland. This enabled wealthy people separated across the strait to gradually meet in Hong Kong. |
| “砰……”这第一声枪响,是利比亚反对派201I年1月14日在班加西市一个 叫苏卢格的施工现场打响的。当卡扎菲的女保镖将这ー消息告诉他时,这位“非洲 之王”不屑ー顾地“哼”了一声说:“我是穆阿迈尔・卡扎菲,不是本・阿里!想搞 倒我没有那么容易！” | On October 14, 1987, the Kuomintang Central Standing Committee passed a proposal for Taiwan residents to visit the mainland, “allowing people to visit mainland relatives; except for active military personnel and civil servants, anyone with blood relatives, in-laws, or relatives within three degrees on the mainland could apply to visit the mainland and see relatives.” |
| “砰砰……”这回是两声还是三声枪响,似乎谁也没有在意,但反对派枪管里 射出的愤怒子弹已经在昭示着什么。这一天是2011年10月20日,距卡扎菲听到 前一次枪响时隔9个月零6天。这回卡扎菲又说了话,说得断断续续、战战兢兢: “我是这个国家的领导人,是你们的父亲、孩子,你们不能这样……”然而没有一个 人听他的话,躲藏在水泥涵洞里的他被人拖出,死在乱枪之下,死状特别地血 腥 | The iceberg collapsed. |
| 1月14日在班加西市苏卢格工地上响起的枪声,是ー帮抢房子住的百姓与前 来维持秩序的警察发生冲突引发的。此前卡扎菲在ー次公开场合上说过这样一句 话:“我的人民必将拥护我,因为我正在为你们建许多许多房子,有的已经快建好 了,你们可以住上好房子,过上好日子!” | Before this, our family had also learned uncle's address from Grandfather's letters, so we entrusted Hong Kong friends to forward letters—one letter, two letters. After several letters were lost, finally one day uncle received our letter, and our family received uncle's letter forwarded through Hong Kong friends. |
| 令卡扎菲想不到的是,那些祖辈无房的贫苦百姓ー听这消息,疯狂地冲到了那 些正在盖建的房屋工地上,见到已经建好或快要建好的房子,便兴高采烈地写上自 己的姓名,然后又蹦又跳地欢呼“我有房子住了”“我有房子了”。这ー喊不要紧, 喊醒了千千万万生活在底层的平民百姓,他们ー个比ー个疯狂地冲进建房工地,于 是引发了全国性的抢房狂潮。 | Dear readers, note this: uncle lost several letters at his Wanda Road residence—I'll mention this again later. |
| 君不知,利比亚的建房工程,几乎全由中国人承包施工,动乱时首当其冲的自 然是我们的同胞。这是后话。我们需要粗略了解一下在2011年开始几个月里,利 比亚和卡扎菲命运发生变化的背景。 | From then on, uncle no longer needed others to write for him. He carefully wrote to us stroke by stroke, pouring out his true feelings. From that morning in 1948 when he left home carrying a shoulder pole and baskets, the one person uncle could never forget was my grandma, whom he'd seen every day with her hair pulled back in a bun, toiling day after day. In his eyes, Mother was the village, was home. He'd hoped for too many days, longing to cry and pour out his heart in Mother's embrace like when he was small, but in the end, these hopes became a dream that could never be realized—in 1975, when he was forty-five and in the hard years of leading troops in drills. |
| 对于全国的抢房乱象,卡扎菲很生气,后果当然很严重。他发出命令,可乱象 依旧,他脑子ー热动用大量警察去驱赶抢房百姓。火势暂时扑灭了,但卡扎菲并不 明白,那些不听命于他的臣民们为什么选择了 1月14日这一天闹事。 | My grandma died of pneumonia from a cold during contemporary China's “unprecedented” era. She held on until one year before the end of the “Cultural Revolution,” living through the most humiliating days of our family. The terrible news didn't reach uncle until ten years later. When uncle learned from the Beijing family letter that Grandma had died, he collapsed on the floor weeping. The warm scenes he'd painted over and over in his mind of reuniting and embracing Mother, of bringing her food and water—all of it crashed to the floor in that moment. Right then, uncle swore that even if he couldn't care for his parents in their old age and see them to their final rest, he would return home to build graves and erect monuments. |
| 其实,这ー天除了自以为强大无比的卡扎菲本人外,几乎所有的人都在关注他 们的邻邦ーー突尼斯。ー场“大革命”仅仅用了 27天时间就彻底改变了一个国家、 ー个政权的命运:74岁的总统本・阿里这一天晚上再也招架不住,携家人仓皇离 境出逃,从而结束了他四次连任总统、统治突尼斯长达23年之久的历史。 | Later came April 23, 1988, when uncle, as one of the first batch of people to visit mainland relatives, traveled from Taiwan to Hong Kong to Guangzhou to Tianjin, then to our home in Beijing. |
| 据说,突尼斯总统本・阿里出逃的消息传到的黎波里卡扎菲的豪华露天帐篷 内时,卡扎菲很不以为然,并说:“西方侵略者靠几条狗的一把火想烧毁非洲的革命 阵营,只会是白日做梦!” | That time, we wouldn't let uncle spend any money. Not counting what we gave him, we also bought him many gifts to take back. For instance, precious fox fur for the doctors at Taipei Veterans General Hospital who'd performed surgery to save his life; Lanzhou luminous cups for Mrs. Liu who'd decisively sent him to the hospital when his condition flared up, rendering great service; Yixing purple clay tea sets for his factory boss who'd been very considerate; jade ornaments for the young people at the factory who often celebrated his birthday... |
| 卡扎菲小视了“一把火”的威力。他整天逼着利比亚人民背诵他的语录,却忘 记了一句经典的话:“星星之火,可以燎原。”其后,突尼斯的动荡像是导火线,在非 洲引发了一连串波澜壮阔、惊心动魄的大事件,埃及、也门先后发生动荡,埃及总统 穆巴拉克、也门总统萨利赫相继下台,让全世界都为之震惊。 | Uncle packed two large suitcases with gifts, full of joy because he could repay his Taipei friends' kindness in his own way. But he was also worried—the journey would be exhausting. He'd have to go from Beijing to Guangzhou, cross the Luohu border to Hong Kong, fly to Taiwan, then from Taoyuan Airport get back to Wanda Road in Taipei. “Arriving at Taoyuan Airport at night, there aren't even buses—you have to take a taxi!” Uncle sighed. I knew uncle hated spending money on taxis. He was generous with others but pained to spend even a little on himself. What worried me was something else—for uncle, with his chronic myocardial infarction, this journey would be a terrible ordeal. |
| 也门与利比亚同属阿拉伯国家,埃及和突尼斯则在利比亚的ー东一西。周边 国家如此巨大的政治风暴和民众革命,怎能不影响利比亚?尤其是西方世界早已 对这个拥有巨大石油资源的地中海南岸国家垂涎三尺。堡垒往往先从内部攻破, 利比亚的问题主要出在内部,或者说是出在一心想当“非洲之王”的“卷毛狂人”、 国家元首卡扎菲自己身上。 | Uncle went through all the hardships and finally made it back to Taipei. I learned later that the entire Liu family kept the lights on that night waiting for uncle. When he came through the Wanda Road door carrying and dragging his luggage, old and young all ran out and excitedly pulled the large and small gifts that our family of more than ten had carefully prepared into their respective rooms. When uncle helplessly climbed up to his second-floor residence, he could still hear the Liu family women and children gleefully dividing up the items. If not for the later violent quarrel between Mrs. Liu and uncle, their days probably would have continued like that. |
| 利比亚是非洲富裕国家,人均收入居于高位。尤其是它的石油,其品质无与伦 比。然而,这个只有600万人口、富得流油的国家,民众却没有像同样盛产石油的 阿联酋、卡塔尔人民那样过上好日子。 | Chapter Three: Third Return to Mainland |
| 利比亚实行计划经济,这并不能说是绝对错误,问题的关键是卡扎菲声称自己 搞的是不同于社会主义和资本主义的第三条道路,却没有把广大民众的生活放在 第一位予以重视。相反,他利用家族控制了利比亚的经济命脉。建设方面由于过 度依赖外国劳エ,不重视基础工业和民生工程,百姓的失业率不断攀升,生活水平 近年不断下降。 | Returning to Hometown |
| ー心想做非洲“王中王”的卡扎菲从20世纪90年代开始,将雄心放在整个非 洲,对外援助非盟他十分慷慨,由此当上了让他内心深感满足的非盟主席。卡扎菲 在国内除了不重视民生,留下后遗症外,还有一点也是致命的:他对自己的家乡和 “革命圣地”一他当年发动军人起义的根据地等地区的发展很给カ,却极不重视 东部城市班加西等地的经济建设,资金投入极少。多少年来,首都的黎波里繁荣发 展,高楼林立,高速公路畅通便捷,而利比亚第二大城市班加西却萧条破落,市内道 路坑坑洼洼、破烂不堪…… | October 1990—uncle's third visit to Beijing. He was going to return to his Henan hometown to build graves and erect monuments for his parents. |
| 反对和支持卡扎菲的东、西部落之间积怨不断加深,在邻国突尼斯、埃及“革命 风暴”影响下,反对派的力量正在聚集并窥伺着机会,班加西的地位此刻就显得越 来越重要。 | As I mentioned before, my grandma gave birth to three daughters—the eldest and youngest died young, so grandma lived with the second daughter, my mother, and raised the five of us siblings. After Grandma died, her elderly cloisonné urn was placed in Mother's home, continuing to live with us as she had while alive. My grandfather, following New China's monogamy system, settled in Guizhou with Second Grandma. Grandfather died in the 1962 famine, but Second Grandma was still alive. |
| 2011年初的利比亚,看起来似乎很平静,到处依然张贴着卡扎菲的头像和绿 色旗帜,其实整个利比亚已像一片临近燃烧极点的枯草地,只差有人划上一根细细 的火柴,ー场席卷全国的燎原大火必将燃起一后来的情况果真如此。 | Dear readers, what follows is somewhat tedious, but these events changed a segment of uncle's life plans, so please bear with me. |
| 这次“划火柴”的是一位律师,他叫法思・特比尔,班加西有名的“阿布萨利姆 家属”组织发言人。2月15日,法思再次准备到班加西当地的卡扎菲政权去“说 理”,却被警察投入了监狱,于是法思的支持者们得知情况后就上街游行抗议。 | Uncle carried out his wishes with the organizational ability he'd developed from years of leading troops. First, he planned to build a grave for each of my grandfather's two brothers in their hometown. My grandfather's grave would be divided into three chambers—one each for Grandfather and Grandma, with a space reserved for Second Grandma. Second, he contacted Second Grandma, far away in Guizhou, and asked for her agreement to move Grandfather's grave. Third, he contacted Jin Zhu, my grandfather's brother's grandson, because building a grave for Grandfather's brother—Jin Zhu's grandfather—would require Jin Zhu's help. |
| 第二天,当局不得不将法思释放,以为这样就可以平息了事,没想到从此上街 游行的人越来越多,且一直蔓延到利比亚其他城市,包括首都的黎波里…… | Uncle prepared for these three things for two and a half years. Except for Second Grandma's firm refusal to allow Grandfather's reburial, everything else went smoothly. Uncle went with my mother first to the county to make arrangements for the funeral, and since Mother had some standing in the county and the county and township paid attention to policy, the cemetery plot was quickly settled. For the rest, uncle coordinated everything, parceling out the work—those building graves built graves, those carving monuments carved monuments, those making coffins made coffins—orderly and methodical. |
| 有必要交代一下法思为什么上街,他和“阿布萨利姆家属”组织有何渊源。 | This Jin Zhu was several years younger than me. Early on he'd followed his mother from the village to Anyang City. His mother ran a small tobacco and liquor shop, and he worked in supply and marketing at a factory. Jin Zhu accepted uncle's commission and supervised the work in his spare time. His mother and uncle were cousins. Though they'd had no contact before, when they met this time, their excitement and warmth were no less than our family's. |
| 20世纪初,利比亚是意大利的殖民地。1927年至1934年间,利比亚领土被意 大利统治者一分为二,同时白人大批拥入这块地中海南岸蕴藏大量石油的国家。 “利比亚”这个名字也是意大利人在!934年时启用的。二战期间,利比亚人奋起反 抗殖民主义者,代表人物叫奥马尔。如今班加西街头到处还有这位民族英雄的头 像,就连目中无人的卡扎菲也称奥马尔是“国父” 〇 | Uncle's homecoming alarmed the county Taiwan Affairs Office. County people repeatedly expressed their welcome for uncle to settle there, and the township also said they'd allocate land and build him a house. Whether uncle was tempted or not, we don't know—he didn't agree but didn't refuse either, just rubbed his big hands and smiled. After all, he'd left home young and had always longed for this land and water. |
| 之后的漫长岁月里,利比亚的外部环境尚算平静,卡扎菲“革命”成功之后,几 度与西方决裂,后来又“反省”。特别是新世纪以来,利比亚出现了“开放”迹象。 这个时候,一件并不经意的事却发生了。2006年2月17日,意大利驻班加西领事 馆门口聚集了大批民众,他们是来抗议的,因为ー个意大利人身穿着印有被全世界 穆斯林视为“亵渎真主”的丹麦画家漫画形象的外套,在班加西招摇过市。 | November 1990—the weather turned cold. Uncle's major undertaking to send Grandfather and Grandma back home began. I took leave from work, carried Grandma's urn, and went home with uncle and Mother. Like uncle's 1988 experience buying tickets at Guangzhou Station, sleeper tickets were extremely hard to get. I stood in line at Beijing Station for half the night before I got hard sleeper tickets to Anyang, and uncle kept saying with distress: “We'll have to get Jin Zhu to help buy the return tickets to Beijing!” |
| 在这场抗议过程中,有个14岁的男孩上了意大利领事馆大楼的屋顶,欲将意 大利国旗拔下来。结果利比亚当局开枪扫射,随即便引发了冲突,14名平民在这 场冲突中死亡。这一天在利比亚人民心中留下了极深的伤痕,班加西人称它为“愤 怒日”。 | When we arrived at Anyang Station, the sky was just getting light, and Jin Zhu came to meet us. This was my first time meeting Zhu Zi—he was short and chubby with one eye a bit red, and his face was full of honest smiles. Mother and I were arranged in the jeep, while Jin Zhu stopped uncle. I heard Jin Zhu and uncle talking outside the car. |
| 法思在2011年2月15日被当局逮捕的原因,就是卡扎菲军警人员认为,法思 是在准备为两天后的“愤怒日”组织ー场反政府示威。 | Jin Zhu: “Uncle, Mother went back to the village yesterday and brought tobacco and liquor—don't buy any more.” (I thought, Auntie's really generous—funerals use a lot of tobacco and liquor.) Uncle: “Zhu Zi, did you receive the Japanese color TV I sent your mother?” Jin Zhu: “Got it, got it. The 24K pure gold ring you gave—I gave it to Mom, and the ones for XX, XX, XXX—thank you.” Uncle: “Why didn't you write back? Made me worry.” Jin Zhu: “...” Uncle: “Jin Zhu, let me ask you—those twenty Taiwan-made new clothes I mailed you to give to XX, XX, XXX—why did you exchange them all for old clothes and make people curse me?...” |
| “阿布萨利姆家属”则是另ー个事件。话得从卡扎菲统治下的20世纪90年代 说起。他通过军警逮捕全国持不同政见人士,把他们关在的黎波里阿布萨利姆监 狱。由于卡扎菲实行的是残酷的“逆我者亡”的高压政策,1996年6月29日,阿布 萨利姆监狱内的1200多名政治犯因为抗议狱中的非人道行径而被卡扎菲当局枪 杀。他们的尸体被运到郊外秘密地集体埋葬了,这些死者多数是班加西人。 | I was a bit shocked and quickly looked at Mother, catching her eye. Mother clearly didn't know about this either. She shook her head at me—I understood she wanted me not to interfere. |
| 这样ー桩惨案,利比亚人一直以来不敢刨根问底,皆因慑于卡扎菲政权的残酷 手段。2004年,一心渴望获得西方好感的卡扎菲承认了“阿布萨利姆事件”,此后 有相当多的遇难者家属要求政府公布遇难者名单和他们被埋葬的地方。 | Uncle and Jin Zhu got in the car, and the atmosphere was heavy. Jin Zhu tried to make conversation: “Uncle, when you go back to Beijing, take the train from Zhengzhou?” Uncle didn't say anything, apparently still angry. I asked: “Are the tickets easy to buy?” Jin Zhu glanced at uncle and his tone became boastful: “My younger sister works at Zhengzhou Railway—the Railway Bureau is practically like our family business.” I quickly nailed it down: “Zhu Zi, three Zhengzhou to Beijing sleeper tickets—can you handle it?” Jin Zhu, blinking his very red eye, agreed right away: “No problem.” I nudged uncle with my hand: “Jin Zhu's helping us buy the train tickets.” Uncle's face brightened. |
| 强人卡扎菲对此既不妥协,又一直不松口 ,致使“阿布萨利姆事件”中的遇难 者家属近几年来一直不停地举行集体抗议活动,故在利比亚有了“阿布萨利姆家 属”组织。律师法思是这个组织的成员,也是他们的发言人。法思的ー个哥哥、ー 个堂兄和一个姐夫就在这!200多名死者之中。法思是弄清“阿布萨利姆事件”真 相的坚定拥护者,所以自2004年开始,他每个星期都会到法院门口进行抗议。那 些年里,只有法思ー个人这样做,他也因此坐了七次牢,并且屡遭严刑拷打。然而 法思从来没有屈服,这也使得他成为班加西有名的反政府人士。 | The jeep sped toward the village where our ancestors had lived. My heart was full of a sacred feeling—I was going to return Grandma to the land she'd longed for, to spend a few days with uncle in this place and help him fulfill his hometown dream together. |
| 邻国突尼斯出现政治动荡,总统在2011年1月14日深夜出逃,消息很快传到 利比亚。一直对卡扎菲政权心怀仇恨、持对立态度的班加西人,认为时机已到,应 当顺势揭竿而起。然而,谁来领导推翻卡扎菲的斗争呢? | A hand-spinning wheel swayed before my eyes—Grandma telling the story of her youth, telling the stories of the older generation. From this spinning wheel spun out long, long thread, thread as long as this Central Plains village's history, as long as the affection of the people here. Now, bringing Grandma home, this village that had haunted Grandma's and uncle's dreams must be beautiful, right? |
| 法思!法思是他们的英雄,他有足够的勇气和智慧!于是从2月14日深夜至 15日清晨,不断有人来到法思的住处,他们兴奋地怂恿心目中的英雄,挺身而出擎 起反卡扎菲的大旗。 | One hour, two hours—the bumpy dirt road jarred my bones painfully. I held Grandma's urn tightly and didn't dare speak. |
| “以真主的名义,我愿意为推翻暴君和专制挥洒鲜血……”法思面对群情激愤 的拥护者,也毫不含糊地亮出自己的主张。 | The sun climbed high in the sky. Finally, with a “screech,” the jeep loudly pulled the hand brake and came to a stop. |
| 当局的秘密警察很快发现了法思及其追随者的动向,15日当天就将法思逮捕 | I opened my eyes, jumped down from the car, and immediately felt bewildered. This small village, seemingly frozen in vast and distant history—this was the hometown Grandma and uncle had longed for so deeply? Where was the vitality of the civilized people who'd lived in the Central Plains for thousands of years? Where were the bright tile houses of the descendants still guarding the village? Where were your beautiful new clothes? Where were your bustling little streets like a marketplace? I'd visited the Jiangnan lands touched by the spring breeze of reform—there, every step felt like treading on a bright pastoral poem. |
| 了。消息传出,班加西的“阿布萨利姆家属”组织立即到街头示威游行,要求当局 释放法思。迫于群众的压カ,害怕几个邻国接二连三的反政府抗议浪潮席卷到利 比亚,班加西当局在16日释放了法思。不想为时已晚,或者说卡扎菲政权没有想 到的是,那些久积在利比亚民众心中的反卡扎菲统治的愤怒之火此刻已经点燃,迅 速蔓延开来,变成熊熊大火,再也无法将其熄灭…… | Here it was early winter. I pulled my wool scarf tight as yellow leaves fell and landed on my shoulders. A skinny dog with its tail between its legs darted past the jeep. Following it, I saw sheep, pigs, chickens, and ducks looking for food on the road—though they seemed weak and feeble, they enjoyed the same uninhibited freedom as their masters. |
| 2月17日,是班加西有名的“愤怒日”,人们纷纷上街游行,开始是几百人,后 来是几千人、几万人,再后来仿佛是全城男男女女、老老少少都加入了游行队伍。 | Uncle practically became a celebrity. Villagers, whether they knew him or not, gathered around praising his filial piety. Uncle walked in front with steady steps, followed by a crowd of adults and children. I imagined this was how he'd led troops into battle, walking at the front of the formation. |
| 问题的关键是,这一天的群众性纪念活动,后来其内容发生了变化。这要怪卡 扎菲和他的统治集团犯了一个极其严重的错误:他们派出大量的军警人员和秘密 警察、情报人员,甚至还有外国的雇佣力量对群众施暴。这些人戴着黄色帽子,手 持剑、铁棍及石头,军警们更是明目张胆地举着枪,对游行示威的民众劈头盖脸ー 阵乱打,甚至开枪伤人。 | Uncle was led into an earth house while Mother and I sat in the courtyard. Soon I discovered something was wrong. The small courtyard built with earthen walls filled with people, all pushing toward uncle's little room. Those coming out wore smiles, while those who hadn't gotten in yet looked extremely anxious. |
| 冲突愈演愈烈,纪念日的游行成了反卡扎菲的民众运动。班加西城内有人直 接举起了推翻卡扎菲的旗帜,民众高喊“卡扎菲下台”的口号,与军警等各种镇压 者展开针锋相对的斗争。他们用石头和砖块回击军警的枪弹和催泪弹,用木棍和 门框及汽车轮子抵挡装甲车进攻,用火柴和打火机焚烧卡扎菲的画像以及他的“绿 皮书”一这些几十年来曾经都被利比亚奉为神圣不可侵犯的“领袖形象”和“领 袖思想”〇更让卡扎菲政权不能容忍的是,这样的“叛徒”和“卖国贼”行为,不仅在 班加西出现,利比亚其他的大城市也都出现了类似的大规模反政府、反卡扎菲的群 众怒潮,从此利比亚陷入全面的混乱状态。 | I squeezed in too, took one look, and backed out. Uncle was enthusiastically handing out gifts—giving electronic watches to the men, pure gold rings to the women. The overjoyed men and women stretched out their hands, silently competing for the items in the air. |
| 2011年2月17日,因此成为利比亚“革命”的ー个具有标志性的日子。 | The clan elder accompanied Mother into the room with a serious expression and called uncle to come to the mourning shed. Uncle quickly put away the gifts, but the crowd didn't disperse. |
| 利比亚出现的动荡,让西方世界特别是美国方面欣喜若狂,他们早就期待着阿 拉伯反美阵线彻底瓦解。当日,美国国务卿希拉里在白宫公开支持利比亚的反对 派,谴责卡扎菲政权的镇压。英国首相自然也跟着起劲地出来谴责卡扎菲。这回 法国更是走在西方列国的前头,总统萨科齐的调子比希拉里还要高出几分贝。联 合国人权事务高级专员皮莱也加入了谴责卡扎菲的行列。所有这些,都像是火上 浇油ー样,让利比亚境内的反政府势カ获得了精神和行动上的巨大支持。 | The village open space had been set up with a solemn mourning shed. Grandfather's and Grandma's portraits hung in the center. The offering table held fruit, pastries, and dishes, along with incense burners, candle holders, and some ritual vessels. White cloth curtains hung on either side of the mourning platform—the vigil stations. Below the platform, two thick, eye-catching black lacquered coffins. The clan elder explained how good the coffin wood was, how many coats of paint had been applied, and uncle nodded. Grandma's coffin held her urn, while Grandfather's coffin held a Western suit I'd bought in Beijing plus some items uncle had brought and things prescribed by the old rituals. |
| 卡扎菲是个不服输的主儿。18日当天,他发表了全国电视讲话,ー则威胁示 威者,说“以人民和革命的名义”,将采取严厉措施惩罚那些包括上街游行的混乱 制造者;二则表明自己不会辞职,宁可不要生命,也不会离开利比亚。 | The small village, lonely from poverty, became lively and bustling. Slaughtering pigs, cooking, steaming, setting up tables—people shuttling back and forth endlessly. People from villages within ten li in every direction heard that a filial son from Taiwan had come home to hold funeral rites and all rushed over to watch the excitement. The village's vitality was like water boiling in a pot. |
| 卡扎菲的强硬态度,引来反政府民众的强烈不满,反抗情绪更加高涨。19日, 双方展开针锋相对的冲突,造成了更大的流血伤亡。ー队队穿着穆斯林服装的男 男女女抬着一具具用白布裹着的尸体上街,此情此景让世界同情,残酷枪杀无辜平 民的罪行让人无法容忍,卡扎菲政权陷入了怒海狂涛般的声讨和谴责声中。 | We all put on coarse white mourning clothes and stood under the mourning shed, receiving wave after wave of relatives and guests who came to pay their respects. Everyone who came to offer condolences said the same thing to uncle: “Your parents didn't love you in vain!” I thought this was the most gratifying, most pleasing praise uncle could receive. He must have waited many years for these words, for this scene. |
| “打倒卡扎菲”“推翻暴行政权”的口号,已经成为利比亚全国多数民众的实际 行动。 | That night, uncle and I kept vigil for Grandfather and Grandma. The eternal flame burned bright. Uncle suddenly said to me: “Little Dong, when the funeral is over, I can die with my eyes closed.” I wouldn't let him talk nonsense. Uncle's expression was extremely calm: “Before this, I had one thing left undone. Now it's done, and my heart is at peace.” |
| “卡扎菲必须交权” “利比亚现政权已经失去合法性”“卡扎菲必须接受国际审 判”等说法,则在以美国、法国为首的西方世界的话筒里频频传出。有关人权组织 及时做出ー个统计:截至2011年2月20日,卡扎菲政权的连续镇压,已经造成300 多人死亡,逾千人受伤。 | I knew uncle had a congenitally narrow heart. That time he fell ill at Wanda Road in Taipei, Veterans General Hospital did coronary angiography for him. The imaging showed three main arteries—one blocked, one normal, one poorly developed. The doctors tried repeatedly to clear the blocked arterial vessel but failed. In the end, they didn't place a stent and didn't do a bypass. The doctor held uncle's hand and said solemnly: “You're a person supported by one normal artery—you need to take care of yourself more than anyone.” |
| 21日,半岛电视台突然传出消息,称卡扎菲已离开利比亚,前往南美洲国家委 内瑞拉。这个消息让利比亚国内ー阵狂欢,正在街头“革命”的民众又是放鞭炮, 又是跳舞唱歌庆祝。然而没多长时间,卡扎菲的儿子赛义夫在电视上公开辟谣,称 他父亲决不会离开自己的国家,即使战斗到最后ー个人也绝不投降。 | I comforted uncle, saying science was advancing, saying if he was careful there wouldn't be problems, saying the good days were just beginning so he should have confidence, saying his life belonged to the whole family, saying Grandma's and Grandfather's spirits would watch over him. |
| 利比亚是个部落国家,反对和支持卡扎菲的两股势カ此时不分上下,于是全国 性的混战便全面开始……赤手空拳的反卡扎菲人士和民众拿起土制的枪支与石 头、铁棍,政府军警则动用迫击炮、机关枪和防空导弹。 | Uncle didn't respond. That's how he was—it was very hard to persuade him of anything. Sometimes I felt I couldn't reach the realm where he'd wandered alone for too long. I sensed that sitting in this mourning shed, he was as if facing his own remains, calmly taking stock of how to dispose of himself. I suddenly wondered—did he want to settle down on this land, to be buried beside his parents after a hundred years? |
| 卡扎菲还声称,本・拉登的“恐怖组织”也已进入利境,加入了暴乱队伍。当 局的电视台还证实了,政府军已经从班加西撤离,这意味着利比亚东部完全失控, 反对派开始执掌这一地区。可时隔几小时,又传出卡扎菲将派军队轰炸班加西。 到底是怎么回事,谁也弄不清楚,总之利比亚已经是一片乱局。到处是打砸抢,到 处流血,也分不清究竟是谁干的行径。ー个国家的民众在这种情形下没有了自己 的国家政权,ー个国家的政权在这种情形下没有了自己的民众。 | The next morning at nine o'clock was the time for the funeral procession—”setting out at the chen hour.” Smashing the mourning bowl, burning paper, lifting the biers, drums and music together, flower wreaths and elegiac scrolls, paper figures and paper horses everywhere. Uncle carried the mourning banner while I supported Mother. The funeral procession stretched endlessly with no end in sight. To this day I don't understand which were mourning family members, which were relatives and friends, which were onlookers—probably Jin Zhu's grandfather's branch had many descendants. I only remember the road to the cemetery was three li long. Seventy-year-old Mother could barely hold on, and for the last few dozen meters before reaching the cemetery, the entire procession broke into a run. The pallbearers had warned us about this, but Mother still nearly collapsed against me. |
| 利比亚人民陷入了苦难深渊。 | After that, the pallbearers lifted the coffins from their shoulders and set them on the ground. Large ropes slowly lowered the coffins into the graves. I saw very clearly that Grandfather's grave held, besides Grandma, a space left for Second Grandma. My grandfather's brother's grave also received the black lacquered wooden coffin uncle had commissioned. |
| 陷入苦难深渊的不只利比亚自己的人民,还有成千上万的外国建设者,他们十 分依赖这里的工程项目和庞大的劳动カ市场。 | That day, banquet tables lined the road. People from villages near and far, known and unknown, sat down without invitation and ate and drank, and the women and children's mouths and pockets were stuffed full. |
| 据说,在利比亚最多的外籍劳务人员是埃及人,有上百万人。埃及与利比亚是 邻国,两国共有几千里的国境线,动乱ー开始,成千上万的埃及人便越过沙漠地带, 逃亡回国。 | In the evening, uncle arranged for a movie screening. People acted as if it were New Year, setting up rows of benches in front of and behind the screen. Women chatted while cracking sunflower seeds, men smoked while watching the movie, everyone relaxed. Children crawled around under the screen. |
| 然而,还有更多远涉重洋来建设利比亚的工程建设者和劳务人员就麻烦了。 他们人生地不熟,回国的路程那么遥远,可谓困难重重。局势失控的利比亚,机场、 边境关卡及港口全都陷入无政府、无秩序的状态,更为严重的是动乱带来全面的暴 乱,外国人及他们参与的工程、拥有的财产等,ー时间皆成了利比亚成千上万暴徒 袭击和抢劫的对象……除了石油设施之外,由外国承包和建设的项目多是住宅项 目,而这样的项目十有八九是我们中国人在干。 | We went back inside and heard Jin Zhu's mother joking with uncle. Jin Zhu's mother had rarely returned to the village since she'd moved to Anyang City as a young woman, but this time she'd specifically closed her tobacco and liquor shop to come back for the funeral. She was dark and thin, smiled as soon as she opened her mouth, and looked quite honest. She spoke very quickly: “Hong Zhou, don't forget the tobacco and liquor money—tobacco was XX cartons, liquor was XX cases, sugar was XX jin, for a total of XXX yuan RMB.” |
| 利比亚陷入动乱后,武器散落民间,部分地区陷入了治安真空,ー些暴乱分子 有机可乘,肆意抢劫,中国工地成为他们的首选目标。结果,我们在利比亚承包的 工地所遭受的冲击也是最罕见和血腥的。下面是部分中国在利比亚工程人员的亲 历讲述一 | These words weren't honest at all—only then did I realize my earlier assumption that Jin Zhu's mother was voluntarily contributing the tobacco and liquor money was totally wrong. Come to think of it, wasn't the deceased being sent off her own father-in-law? How could she, emotionally or rationally, ask uncle for money? I was a junior and it wasn't my place to speak, but a township cadre who was with us couldn't help but protest: “Auntie, you're charging high prices for this tobacco and liquor? Much more expensive than our township shop!” |
| 员亮（中国水电集团公司利比亚公司负责人）： | Jin Zhu's mother stopped smiling, glared, and was about to get angry. |
| 我们中水电公司在利比亚有三个大项目,都是盖房子的,其中两个在利比 亚东部城市班加西附近,ー个在利比亚的南部塞卜哈那边。最先遭受暴徒袭 击的班加西附近的两个工地,ー个在迈尔季,ー个在贝达市,共有1000多人。 贝达市的暴乱从2月17日就开始了。为了保证我方人员安全,中水电公司见 形势不妙,就在!8日白天将贝达市区的100多名建筑工人撤到了郊区的另ー 个营地。没有想到的是!8日当地时间晚7点（北京时间2月19日凌晨1时） 左右,数十名不明身份的当地暴徒,手持土枪,肆无忌惮地开着抢来的车辆,向 我营地疯狂地袭击。为保护公司财产,我方营地200多名员エ勇敢地捡起石 头、瓦片等奋カ回击。对峙之中,暴徒开枪射击,造成我方!1人受伤。现场项 目部领导果断做出决定,所有人员撤出营地,向附近的一座小山丘撤离。暴徒 并没有因此罢手,他们随即抢劫了营地的汽车、泵车等大部分设备和物资,并 纵火焚烧了仓库和营地。躲在山丘后面的我200多名工人兄弟,ー边擦着身 上的血,ー边流着泪眼睁睁地看着大火将自己的营地焚烧成烟……那情景令 人心碎,又无可奈何。 | Uncle quickly gave Jin Zhu's mother a way out and called loudly: “Sister, Jin Zhu, let's settle the accounts!” |
| 唐忠良,人称“老唐”,他是员亮所说的被暴徒们袭击营地后逃往荒山野岭的 那群工人之一。有记者采访了他,老唐嘴里的经历更惊心动魄: | I watched Jin Zhu rubbing his very red eye as he pulled out a notebook he'd already prepared and began reading the accounts. The accounts went on and on—gravestones, inscription carving, coffin wood, paint, pallbearers, cigarettes, liquor, flour, live pigs, vegetables, tofu, vermicelli, offerings, the band, the movie—reading page after page, while uncle, without a calculator or abacus, just listened. |
| 我所在的工地是在贝达附近的一个叫斯蒂哈姆瑞的小镇,那儿临近地中 海,2月的最低气温只有摄氏零度左右。2月18日,正是中国农历元宵节刚过 的第一天。那天下午时分,工地负责人特意通知工人们提前下班,回宿舍好好 包顿饺子吃。傍晚时分,我刚吃完饺子,本想出去溜达溜达,看ー看西山头浸 染的落日霞光,忽然,听到营地有人大叫起来:“带上铁锹、镐柄,到公司大院紧 急集合!” | Jin Zhu was thoroughly prepared, reading loudly until uncle waved his hand to stop—and that was the end of the accounts. I knew uncle had given Jin Zhu a large sum of US dollars beforehand, and Jin Zhu was now reporting where those dollars had gone. After that, uncle gave Jin Zhu's mother and Jin Zhu money and jewelry separately. These gifts probably didn't meet their expectations, because when they came out of the room, both their faces were long. |
| 我和エ友们不知道发生了什么事,赶紧一路小跑地来到公司大院。这时 大伙オ发现,我们的公司大院已经被利比亚当地的暴徒们冲击了,并且抢走了 ー些车辆和设备。“一会儿他们还会来的,大伙赶快拿起能够自卫的家伙,保 护自己安全,保护公司财产!”工地领导紧急号召道。我心想,央视四台节目里 说的事真闹到咱这儿了! | Later I asked uncle: “Were those accounts right?” Uncle smiled and squinted back at me: “What do you think?” He later told me the budget had already included an allowance for embezzlement—fortunately it hadn't gone over by too much. |
| 很快,我和300多名工友被编成五个エ队,分别把守大院的前后大门和围 墙四个方向。 | Uncle's little room filled with people again. Those who hadn't gotten watches and rings reached out grabbing, even sticking their hands into uncle's pockets, while those who'd gotten things didn't leave either, pestering uncle to hire an opera troupe for three days. Mother and I sat in the courtyard, letting uncle hand out the last of what he'd brought with high spirits. Suddenly, uncle pushed through the crowd and came out. His face was flushed, looking somewhat annoyed. Seeing no one had followed him out, he pulled five small red velvet pouches from his pants pocket and handed them to me: “Just these five rings left—you keep them for me.” I looked—they were all pure gold rings with certificates from Taiwan's Liangji Silver House—and quickly tucked them into my pocket. After we got back to Beijing, uncle used three. I'm still keeping two of them for him. |
| 再次前来袭击的暴徒们手持冲锋枪、土枪,气势汹汹地乱枪扫射,企图再 度洗劫工地。我生来第一次见这等场景。躲已无屋,退更无路,エ友们顽强地 手持石块和棍棒,等歹徒往里冲,就用雨点般的石块予以回击。恼羞成怒的暴 徒不再含糊了,“砰砰”几声枪响,几个エ友应声受伤倒下。我们只得往后退 让。最让我惊心的是,我躲在ー辆车后面正准备用石块还击暴徒,突然车前面 一声巨响,我被震出几米远 | On the third day before dawn, uncle and I couldn't sleep and took a walk at the edge of the village. Uncle said to me: “Without your grandma and grandpa adopting me, I would have died on the refugee road long ago.” I thought—our whole family had carefully guarded this secret for years, and you'd known all along! So I pressed further: “How did you find out about your background?” Uncle said: “When I was still a child, the villagers told me. So I was always grateful to my parents for spending ten dan of grain to ransom me.” |
| 从傍晚时分,一直到半夜,暴徒们好像要彻底洗劫我们的工地,虽遭エ友 们的全力反击,仍屡屡进犯。工地领导意识到这样下去,会造成我方重大伤 亡,于是经请示上级,遂决定放弃公司,连夜紧急撤离。 | Now I felt I could tell uncle everything, so I revealed another question I'd been mulling over for days: “Uncle, I don't know which direction your biological parents fled. If you're willing, I'll kowtow with you in that direction to thank them for giving birth to you too.” |
| 可寒气逼人的深夜,四周荒山野岭,撤到何处呢?谁都没有头绪,大伙只 好沿着山路漫无目的地向前走。也不知走了多远,借着月光,人们发现不远处 的山头上有一间房子,原来是一座牛棚羊圈,屋里屋外全是牛羊的粪便。大家 也顾不了那么多,先把几个重伤员抬进去安顿好,300多名落魄的中国工人就 在这牛棚羊圈里外做暂时的躲避。 | After all, this was the land where uncle had lived with and been separated from his biological parents—the bloodline, the family bond was an eternal fact that wouldn't change through life and death. I thought, wasn't this the best opportunity and setting for uncle to have a dialogue with his biological parents? |
| 稍稍安顿,我オ发现自己的身子正在瑟瑟发抖,原来极少下雨的利比亚, 竟然在这个冬季里下起了寒雨。我和エ友们是在惊吓中逃出工地的,谁也没 来得及穿上厚实的衣服。此刻,寒风吹来,我们オ感到浑身刺骨发冷。 | Completely beyond my expectations, uncle waved his big hand with an unquestionable tone: “When I stood by the sea, I thought of your grandma and grandpa, never of them. People who gave birth but didn't raise me...” He didn't finish the sentence. The winter dawn was late—I couldn't see uncle's expression clearly, but I could feel his disappointment. His disappointment seemed not to be with the biological parents who had abandoned him, but rather with the realization of years of expectations. In those year after year of expectations, he'd painted the land beneath his feet that had given birth to him and raised him as especially beautiful. Actually, when he first returned from Beijing to Taiwan and heard what the other veterans were saying, he should have been psychologically prepared. |
| 让伤员们和老同志进屋里暖暖,是大家一致的决定。 | He distinctly let out a sigh. Perhaps it was the feeling of spirit and flesh separating. His body had truly landed on his native soil, but he himself had become a Taiwanese guest in the eyes of the locals. The passionate feelings he'd stored up in his heart for decades, which he'd originally intended to pour entirely into his hometown soil, now he suddenly understood that he had no relationship at all with this land, with this village he'd thought about for decades. |
| 风雨交加、胆战心惊之夜,我和エ友们相互照顾,终于苦挨到了天亮。 | Yesterday the township cadres were still waiting for his answer about allocating land and building a house—how should he respond? |
| 为防不测,现场的工地领导决定再次转移。几经周折,我们来来回回,最 后终于登上了上级派来的转运车辆,到了中水电在迈尔季市郊的另ー个承包 驻地,与这里的另外几百名同样被赶出工地营房的工人兄弟们会合,等待生死 未卜的命运 | Uncle and I sat on the field ridge, each thinking our own thoughts. After a long while, he used his big hand to crumble a clod of earth and made his decision: “Go home!” |